# LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.; 

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# # 

I UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. % 



/(-73.C 



THE 



HARMONIAL MAN; 



OR, 



THOUGHTS FOR THE AGE 



ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS, 

n 

AUTHOR OF 

ATURE'S DIVINE REVELATIONS," "IIARMONIA," ETC., ETC. 



'Let our unceasing, earnest prayer 
Be e'er for light, and strength to bear 

Our portion or the weight of care ^ 

That crushes into dumb despair / / ~j <* +*^ 

One half the human race." ~ .L&-/-±±f 



REVISED, RESTEREOTYPED AND ENLARGED. 



BOSTON: 
WILLIAM WHITE AND COMPANY, 

158 WASHINGTON STREET. 

NEW YORK: 

BANNER OF LIGHT BRANCH OFFICE, 544 BROADWAY. 

1872. 






»v* 



\* 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, 

BY ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Stereotyped at the 
WOMEN'S PRINTING HOUSE, 

Corner Avenue A and Eighth Street, 
New York. 



PREFACE 



The contents of this little book are designed to en- 
large man's views concerning the political and ecclesi- 
astical condition of our country, and to point out, or at 
least to suggest, the paths of reform which the true 
Harmonial Man should tread. We stand at the opposite 
extreme of Catholicism; regarding all intervening or- 
ganizations as pillars supporting the arched bridge con- 
necting the Old with the New World. 

A large proportion of this book is devoted to a con- 
sideration of scientific themes which concern man's so- 
cial and personal happiness, and to a class of sugges- 
tions whereby certain meteoric laws may be made to 
subserve the physical development of the race. It is 
earnestly hoped that in these considerations, and the 
pages succeeding, the reader may find food for Thought, 
and feel henceforth - strengthened, and inwardly dis- 
posed to become, as nearly as possible, a Harmonial 

Man. 

The Author. 



HOW SHALL WE IMPROVE MAMIND! 



Tins world is a theatre of incessant action ; the scenes 
change perpetually; the actors come and go like au- 
tumnal clouds ; and the parts which they perform are 
comic or serious, dramatic or tragic, invariably, in 
accordance with the moral culture and external cir- 
cumstances of the actors. 

I am impressed to affirm that every man has a part 
of his own to perform, assigned to him by the Supernal 
Soul of Nature — a part in which he can only excel, 
be happy, and become favorably distinguished. This 
" natural part " is stamped upon the entire constitution 
of the man ; slumbers in his bones ; lives in his muscles ; 
breathes in each element; ripples through each vein 
and artery to their fountain-head ; mounts to his brain, 
— to the throne of his organism — becomes, there, the 
radiant genius of his nature, the prime minister of his 
attractions, the sovereign of his life. This natural 
character is the only character a man can sustain with 
happiness to himself, or benefit to others. 

The trouble of the world is, that man is not permitted 



6 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

to act his nature out — to live in accordance with the 
attractions which God has given him. And what fol- 
lows ? This : Inasmuch as action of some kind is em- 
phatically demanded as essential to his mental happiness 
and physical existence, therefore he is compelled to as- 
sume a false character — is forced ^o take a part not 
naturally his own; and forthwith there issues from 
that misdirected man, as with a studied duplicity he 
performs before the world, a legion of discords and in- 
congruities, at times so unexpected and diabolical, as to 
suggest the existence of a certain nocturnal being, the 
Devil ; who, it is by many believed, can be kept at a 
respectful distance only by establishing theological fort- 
resses, and the maintenance of a standing army of well- 
paid and well-educated clergymen ! (So long as this 
army is well-circumstanced, so long will there continue 
to be plenty of volunteers.) The Devil is a symbol 
suggested and entirely manufactured by the abounding 
discords and hypocrisies which proceed, not out of the 
asserted depravity and blackness of the human heart — 
the organ of love ; but, on the contrary, out of human 
ignorance — out of the defects and deformities of hu- 
man society, into which the individual at birth is ush- 
ered, without any " consent " on his part or reasonable 
preparation ! You inquire, " Who made society ? " I 
reply, It is made by man ! For, manifestly, society re- 



now SHALL WE IMPROVE MANKINDS 7 

suits from a multiplication and association of the human 
type. Again, you ask, " If man made society, and so- 
ciety is replete with discords and wickedness, is not man 
the source thereof? Is not man the cause, and society 
the effect f " I answer, that, viewed superficially and 
from " appearances," as most minds inspect all problems, 
this question seems to furnish the only plain and reason- 
able answer which can be given to it : it seems to say, 
in accordance with the law of natural inference, that 
man is the source of discord and the author of wrong. 
And the remedy appears to be, that man, individually 
and of his own free-will, must be miraculously " changed 
at heart " and supernaturally expurgated, before we can 
reasonably expect any higher or happier social construc- 
tion. I say, all this seems to ~be sound reasoning; and 
the church has uniformly adopted it. 

I have alluded to the " Devil " as the nocturnal being 
upon whose broad shoulders the Christian clergy lay 
the origin of all human evil and misdirection. Now I 
do not wish to prejudice you against this hypothetical 
personage without good and incontrovertible reasons. 
I know how necessary this mythologic " individual " is 
to the preaching profession. He is the man of straw in 
chancery — the patron of the priesthood — and I may 
add, truthfully, the chief cause of much intellectual 
blindness and popular sectarianism ! It is for these 



8 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

reasons, coupled with about thirty others yet unexpress- 
ed, that I feel impressed to prejudice you against this 
oriental superstition. And I do this at the risk of 
incurring the displeasure of our theologic brethren, 
who, from the force of birth and education alone, 
honestly regard this personage as the best stock in their 
line of business. 

This habit of individuals — this fact in history — this 
system of ethics, of referring human errors and evils to 
unreal or imaginary causes, instead of searching out and 
removing their real sources — not only trammels the 
intellect, oppresses the feelings, and frightens children 
exceedingly, but it plays sad havoc with all progressive 
measures in either politics or religion. But it is said, 
" Take away the fear of the devil, and you remove all 
restraints from the wicked." 

Nay, good reader — I tell you, nay ! The poor and 
unprogressed (often the splendidly misdirected) class, 
whom we call " wicked," are benefited and reformed 
by principles of goodness — not by the presentation 
of brimstone retreats or imps clad in garments of 
sulphur ! 

Clergymen stand in the capacity of attorneys, to con- 
duct our spiritual cause between earth and heaven. Or 
they are our physicians — our doctors of divinity — em- 
ploying the same old remedies, " playing upon the hopes 



HOW SHALL WE IMPEOVE MANKIND? 9 

and fears of mankind with changeful skill " ! But sup- 
pose we venture to ask, " What good have they accom- 
plished 1 What have the sects done toward universal 
reform ? Shall we trip across the Atlantic to " cast the 
mote " from our neighbor's eye % Rather let us look at 
out own country. Saying nothing about the distant 
nations, the gospel, so-called (with the doctrine of Dia- 
bolus and Gehenna annexed), has been preached in 
these United States for nearly two hundred years ! 
And I have examined the expenses attending all this, 
and discover that the whole Church Mechanism — meet- 
ing-houses, publishing-houses, home and foreign mis- 
sions, tract-distributing societies, preaching, and other 
purtenances — cost, in America, not less than eighteen 
millions of dollars annually ; — or, enough in principal 
to provide, in two years' time, every poo? 1 family with 
a good cottage on an acre of land! 

The question is, " What has the world gained by all 
this expenditure and extravagance \ " Let the clergy 
respond. They say from their pulpits, and their period- 
icals frequently reiterate it, that " mankind are growing 
worse continually, and the great majority will be eter- 
nally miserable " ! It seems, therefore, from these their 
own acknowledgments, that the theologico-allopathic 
remedies — their Satan, their doctrine of eternal punish- 
ment — is doing no real substantial good in the world , 



10 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

And I trust they will not feel offended if we entertain 
the same opinion. 

But how pleasing it is to know that all good men, of 
whatever age, sect, or clime, are humanitary at heart — 
praying continually to " our Father who art in heaven " 
for the universal establishment of his harmonious gov- 
ernment on earth. And in this grand desire, in this 
glorious prayer, we are one with our opposers. Of 
course there is great diversity of opinion as to the means 
of bringing all this good about — whether by a miracu- 
lous interference on the part of the Supreme Being, or 
by an application of the laws of nature to the refor- 
mation of Society. The question is, " What agencies 
will bring this good to man f " And every party in 
Politics, every Legislative Act, every Creed and form 
of Sectarianism, are so many individual replies to this 
question — so many different solutions of the problem. 

You see, therefore, that this question — viz., " How 

SHALL WE IMPROVE MANKIND and HARMONIZE SOCIETY ? " is 

the greatest question of the age ; it is, emphatically, the 
question of \h<d world ; and the world, in attempting to 
answer it, is thrown into a vortex of political turmoil 
and sectarian jargon unexampled in the history of hu- 
mankind. 

My impression is, in this chapter, to indicate the path 
which progressive minds may tread, in order to solve 



nOW SHALL WE IMPROVE MANKIND? 11 

the practical question now sketched out before us. 
And, let me ask, Will you, reader, look truths — or at 
least the statements which I shall make — directly in the 
face ? All the Ilarmonial Philosophy requires, is, a 
candid audience, and a rational verdict legitimately de- 
duced from the premises. 

The philosophy of the Soul — of the material Universe 
— of the spiritual .Realm — of the eternal Progression of 
matter and mind — of spirits and angels — all will be su- 
perlatively unsound and transcendently chimerical, un- 
less the whole philosophy is susceptible of becoming 
practically demonstrated in the life of every nation — in 
the daily walk and conversation of the individual soul ! 
If we- desire the kingdom of heaven, let us live accord- 
ingly, and become its angels. 

My first impressions of a perfect humarr society came 
from an examination of the order and unity which reign 
in the sidereal systems, among the stars. And I have, 
from time to time, throughout my lectures, obeyed these 
" impressions " in striving to give mankind definite 
hints of them. The system of the stars is on this wise : 
— The worlds of different orders, groups, and magnitudes 
are arranged in hierarchies, or, more properly, into Pa- 
triarchal relationship, as seen in the family where chil- 
dren revolve about the 'parental centre of Influence. 
The satellites burn around their planets, and the planets 



12 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

around their central sun ; which sun concentrates all the 
attractions of the family, and in exchange returns to 
each of these worlds his own influence in the shape of 
space, order, heat and light ! There are, in this family 
of stars, " no perturbations, no shocks, no rebellion and 
disordered movements." All these stars — each with its 
proper life, each with its atmosphere, its seas, its conti- 
nents peopled with appropriate beings — are guided in 
movements so calculated, " that days and nights, sum- 
mers and winters, follow each other harmoniously in 
their meridians and zones ! " They execute their multi- 
form revolutions — traverse, in prescribed times, their 
immense orbic paths ; which paths they trace around the 
patkiakchig sun, "interlacing and gracefully crossing 
each other like the figures of a well-arranged dance." 
Such are the* acknowledged beauty and unity of the 
heavenly bodies. 

It is no impression of mine to urge you to the forma- 
tion of any local and isolated attempts to realize any- 
thing like this Harmony in human society. Surely, we 
have enough of abortive and imperfect efforts to reform 
the world ! Witness the Mormon plan ; the Shaker 
plan ; the Christian, the Temperance, the Benevolent 
and the Prison Reform Societies ; also Sentimental 
Communities ; Industrial Communities ; Odd Fellows ; 
Free Masons ; Anti-Capital Punishment and Anti-Slav- 



HOW SHALL WE IMPROVE MANKIND? 13 

ery Societies. These prove the efforts and love of man- 
kind for man ! But they are all local, despotic to some 
extent, and sadly adapted to the demands of Universal 
Justice. And yet, for what they have done on the side 
of freedom and charity, let us express our eternal grati- 
tude. 

But I ask you to adopt no local plans — only such 
measures as may conserve the purposes of bringing you 
into closer fraternal relations, to the end that you may 
conceive of united methods of assisting the world's 
Progression. We have had enough of sectarianism ; 
enough churches built. Let us now leave all useless 
forms, and become the champions of Principle. In 
this chapter I shall try to show you the path which a 
true harmonial man should tread. He should not 
cease his labors until the society of men shall resemble 
the system of the stars already described. 

The perfect reconciliation of, or harmony between, 
Liberty and Law, between an unwavering government 
and no government at all, is beautifully revealed to us 
in the world of planets. And yet planetary government 
is, after all, but a fractional exhibition of that system 
of reciprocal Justice and Liberty which are more perfect- 
ly revealed in the constitution of a well-developed and 
harmonial man. Such a man exhibits the finite decrees 
of that perfect image and likeness which characterize 



14: THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

the Just, the Wise, the Infinite ! All true government, 
it seems to me, must be based upon the principles of 
simple Unity or Order represented in the Human Form. 
When we see an individual in perfect health, in perfect 
harmony with himself, and in harmony with the world 
about him ; then, so far as a single person can represent 
it, we behold a glorified type of the whole human Race. 
The unity of the race is thus placed in miniature 
before our eyes ! It is chiselled out by the hand of 
consummate Divine Wisdom ; enlivened by the breath 
of Divine Love ! I am no man worshipper ; but I rev- 
erence human nature in the aggregate. He is a micro- 
cosm — the universe in miniature — bearing upon his 
person the marks of a Divine Parentage ; the pledge of 
an immortal inheritance ! 

In the present order of society it is found that almost 
all law is tyranny ; and liberty is but another term for 
anarchy and confusion. But why is it so ? Have we 
no explanation, except the blindness and depravity of 
man ? Yea, verily; we have escaped from the dreadful, 
destructive bondage of this imp of theologic ignorance ; 
and being free, with our eyes open to truth, we see the 
solution of law and tyranny, liberty and anarchy, in the 
social and moral restraints to which man is subjected. 
Arbitrary law is unnatural ; so, also, is its reaction. 
If the laws of society were based on the Principles of 



BOW SHALL WE IMPROVE MANKIND? 15 

Nature, then their operation upon individual interests 
would be like sunlight upon spears of grass in the 
meadow. So still and so harmonious would they be, 
with all existing needs and personal attractions, that 
man would not realize the operation of any law what- 
ever. Just as a healthy man remains unconscious, while 
he remains health} 7 , of the existence even of visceral 
organs in his body. But he becomes cognizant of the 
laws and organs of his physical being, for the first time, 
whenever he does anything contrary to their normal 
harmonies. Now this cannot be said of existing laws 
and governments. They are enforced only at the ex- 
pense erf much individual liberty and social happiness. 
Can you have a clearer evidence of their unnaturalness % 
Header : you have great responsibilities resting upon 
you, because your light is great ! As the bonds of 
Ignorance are severed, as the chains of superstition 
crumble before the onward progress of your soul toward 
light and Freedom ; so, proportionably, should and will 
you arise in the natural majesty of manhood, and be- 
come the saviour of your brethren now in Bondage. 
Man must be Free — if not through the law, why, then, 
above the law ; till the ends of Justice be had, and ex- 
perience brings a better ! For all legislation is tyranny, 
unless based upon the physical and moral Laws of Man. 
In Upper Europe you may see the proofs by which Des- 



16 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

potism pretends to demonstrate that man is a species of 
wild beast, that he needs a master, and is only safe in 
chains. All this proceeds directly from the Mosaic 
system. It is the accredited testimony of Heaven against 
poor human nature. And so, every legislative act is 
made to oppress, and every civil and religious establish- 
ment has conspired to crush, the natural tendencies of 
man toward Truth and Liberty. Your ears may be as- 
sailed by the dismal groans of a dogmatic theology ; 
your eyes may see the sneers of undeveloped and scep- 
tical minds ; but heed them not ! Put your confidence 
in the Principles of Nature ; press onward for the phys- 
ical rights and moral liberties of man ! 

A people will rapidly progress toward truth and 
Organic Liberty if they but remain, inflexibly, the friends 
of Free Speech ; the guardians of unlimited discussion. 
You are admonished to see well to this. {Qp^ever 
permit the Government, Public Opinion, or the Church, 
to gag the free-born soul ! To secure ourselves against 
this calamity, a high-toned moral courage is absolutely 
essential. FEAR of free discussion is the strongest 
sceptre in the hand of error and despotism. Priests 
and rulers are strong when the people fear to examine 
their follies and expose their crimes. We, Americans, 
as a people, although in advance of other nations, are 
as yet weak and timid in this point. True, we subject 



HOW SHALL WE IMPROVE MANKIND? 17 

schemes of public policy to the most rigid scrutiny, and 
reveal their merits and demerits in vivid contrasts ; but 
the churches — or the dogmas of the churches — are still 
permitted to impose a gag — a restriction — on free 
thought; permitted to render unpopular (and conse- 
quently disreputable) a liberal inspection of its funda- 
mental principles. The terrors of excommunication, of 
anathema, of being eternally lost, are presented to all 
minds which show the first indication of taking sides 
with the fearless and the free. This is a sad condition 
— when a man may talk on politics freely, and not so 
on theology. It is even esteemed a meddlesome thing 
for a preacher to apply the laws of religion to politics. 

And do you see the evil which this state of things 
engenders ? The evil is this : conscience is divorced 
from politics. The government of the country is one 
thing ; religion — that is quite another! Hence, the 
impression has become general, and the tyrants of the 
Old World point it out to their subjects, that an Ameri- 
can politician lets but little conscience into his acts and 
writings. This is a very serious accusation. I wish, in 
my soul, it were possible to denounce it as a slander ! 
Kay ; it is so true, and so serious, too, that American 
clergymen consider it good policy neither to meddle 
with the affairs of state, with that " domestic matter," 
Southern slavery, nor yet to exercise the right of suff- 



18 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

rage. This is what tyrants term " the immorality of 
Republics " ! 

This country is not safe in its present condition. Her 
liberties, being for the most part sentimental, not or- 
ganic and" constitutional, are vulnerable at all points. 

I have carefully looked into the invisible doings of 
political and ecclesiastical Absolutism ; and I perceive 
that they deliberately employ emissaries in all Free 
States to undermine them. Russia, Prussia, Austria, 
Rome, fear nothing on this earth so much as this coun- 
try's progress toward Organic Liberty and attractive 
industry. But the tyrants of Europe still hope, in the 
absence of these inherent securities, to overthrow our 
institutions. Political Europe sends her artful spies to 
our country ; ecclesiastical Europe, her indomitable Je- 
suits. I behold them in every State in the Union ! They 
come in the disguise of " merchants" " chemists " and 
" travellers " / Now let us ask, " What point do they 
assail % "What policy do they pursue ? " 

I will tell you : they glory in the conflict between the 
North and South ; in the confusion among the political 
parties now so numerous ; and, by taking advantage of 
this, they strive to destroy man's faith in man. And 
our orthodox religion, by its denunciations of the ten- 
dencies of human nature, helps these spies and Jesuits 
almost like intentional accomplices. If these misdirected 



HOW SHALL WE IMPROVE MANKIND? 19 

men of Europe can beget a general scepticism in human 
nature, then the way to an ultimate prostration of our 
Republic is easily travelled. The spies are sworn ene- 
mies to political and ecclesiastical liberty. And they 
have this plan among themselves: 

" Let us appeal to the poor classes, and exasperate 
them against the rich ; let us, on the other hand, fill the 
privileged classes with haughty suspicion of the pro- 
spective triumph of Mobocracy, and with a love for dis- 
tinction and rule ; let us fan smouldering sparks into 
flames, and add fuel to the fire of every city riot ; let us 
promote the organization of a large police in cities, en- 
courage negligence on the part of municipal officials, 
and stimulate the passion for military glory, by encour- 
aging the desire to have military chieftains for chief 
magistrates ; let us turn the free press into mercenary 
machines, for large sums of money, to put this or that 
man into public favor, or this or that man into disgrace 
and oblivion. Let us insinuate through the veins and 
arteries of this nation the subtle doctrines of fear, ma- 
chination, and the necessity of a government of force." 
Such, in substance, is the plan of those misdirected men 
who favor Upper Europe. 

Friends of Freedom : the most fatal disease is always 
invisible. So, also, is its antidote. The Harmonial 
Philosophy — the foe equally of American Protestantism 



20 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

and of Roman Catholicity — is the only power nnto salva- 
tion from these national dangers. There will be a battle 
between Tyranny and Liberty. But your weapons must 
not be common swords and bayonets. On the contrary, 
a high-toned Press, uniting legislation, sound-hearted 
public documents, conceived and executed in the light 
of the new dispensation, — these are the most irresistible 
artillery. The best fortresses are free schools, free 
churches, free teachers of science — of the laws of cause 
and effect — of religion ! Let me impress you, reader, 
that the safety of a true Harmonial Republic consists 
in organic liberty, which brings to every man his nat- 
ural Rights and attractive Industry ! Says a writer : 
" Open and accessible markets ; unrestricted inland and 
coast navigation; rivers stirring with steamboats and 
glistening with sails ; railroads interlinking all cities 
and villages ; telegraphs, with their net-work of iron 
nerves ; richly cultivated harvest fields, orchards and 
vineyards; buzzing manufactories, in which every la- 
borer is a proprietor • a sound and safe representative 
currency ; universal education ; the banishment of reli- 
gious and political slavery ; the destruction of all illiberal 
rules of government ; perfect faith in the divinity of every 
man — in the omnipotency of truth ; home comforts, above 
the possibility of ultimate destitution ; cooperative in- 
dustry and proprietorship, harmonizing Capital and La 



HOW SHALL WE IMPROVE MANKIND? 21 

bor ; artistic amusements, and the dramatic attractions 
of refinement," making our country the best place 
in the too rid for the industrious. These are your 
weapons of safety, the steppiug-stones toward Peace 
and Unity ! 

Let no enthusiast persuade you, reader, that this world 
will be suddenly reformed. Let no man, with the or- 
gan of hope inflated and reflection enfeebled, persuade 
you that Miracles are to be wrought, transcending the 
laws of nature. But be ye firm, uncompromising, pro- 
gressive children of an enlightened Reason / the lovers 
of principle, detesting the measures of policy ; the 
champions and doers of Universal Justice. We have 
churches enough — preachers enough — enough of jails. 
Men have made many laws ; wasted much time and tal- 
ent, exhibited much attorneyship and cupidity, in dis- 
cussing the merits and demerits of parties and political 
factions ; have contributed to the punishment of sinners 
in this world, and to support the doctrine which informs 
of their damnation in the next ; the sea swarms with 
their ships ; the savage lands are visited by missionaries ; 
they have united in the general contest for individual 
riches and luxury ; but, my friends, have you not now a 
new life and work before you f Inhabitants of Amer- 
ica! — the education and exaltation of the new race 
depend upon you ; the vindication of human nature, the 



22 ' THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

destruction of superstition, the destinies of the nations, 
hang upon you. I beseech you, see to it ! 

Man is just awakening, from his long sleep of ages, 
to a vigorous perception of his natural rights and spirit- 
ual powers. As man advances in wisdom, and in pro- 
portion as his mind becomes illuminated by the Princi- 
ples of Universal Nature, even so will he more and 
more realize the beauties and blessings of that Liberty 
which is Truth and Harmony. 

Human society will immensely be improved and ex- 
alted by still better systems of Common School Educa- 
tion. The present system has the effect to create an 
odious distinction between the poor and the rich. This 
is wrong, prejudicial to social harmony, and leads to sec- 
tarian forms of conservatism,and to destructive plans of 
reformation. Our schools should be, as they are in 
some States fast becoming, the platform of thorough 
education and republican principles. Still there are 
men who wish to make and perpetuate a distinction be 
tween schools for the poor and schools for the rich, ir 
society. Upon this, Bishop Doane most nobly remarks; 

" We utterly repudiate, as unworthy, not of freemen 
only, but of men, the narrow notion, that there is to be 
an education for the poor as such. Has God provided 
for the poor a coarser earth, a thinner air, a paler sky? 
Does not the glorious sun pour down his golden flood 



HOW SHALL WE IMPROVE MANKIND? 23 

as cheerfully upon the poor man's cottage as upon the 
rich man's palace ? Have not the cottagers' children as 
keen a sense of all the freshness, verdure, fragrance, 
melody, and beauty of luxuriant nature, as the pale sons 
of kings ? Or is it in the mind God has stamped the 
imprint of a base birth, so that the poor man's child 
knows with an inborn certainty that his lot is to crawl, 
not to climb ? 

" It is not so. God has not done it. Man cannot do 
it. Mind is immortal. Mind is imperial. It bears no 
mark of high or low — rich or poor. It heeds no bound 
of time or place, of rank or circumstances. It asks but 
freedom. It requires but light. It is heaven-born, and 
it aspires to heaven. Weakness does not enfeeble it. 
Poverty cannot repress it. Difficulties do but stimulate 
its vigor. And the poor tallow-chandler's son, that sits 
up all night to read the book which an apprentice lends 
him, lest his master's eye should miss it in the morning, 
shall stand and treat with kings ; shall bind the lightning 
with an hempen cord, and bring it harmless from the 
skies. The common school is common, not as inferior, 
not as the school for poor men's children, but as the light 
and air is common. It ought to be the best school ; and 
in all good works the beginning is one half. Who does 
not know the value to a community of a plentiful supply 
of the pure element of water? And infinitely more 



24 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

than this is the common school;, for it is the fountain 
at which the mind drinks, and it is refreshed and 
strengthened for its career of usefulness and glory." 

More education, less legislation, is loudly demanded. 
Do not think that this world is to be elevated by govern- 
mental arrangements, by improved codes of common 
law, and more liberal legislation. Far from it. If I 
can place any confidence in the sweet, yet strong, im- 
pressions which enter the superior faculties of my being, 
then I tell you the truth, when I affirm, that man's 
rights can be secured, not by making new laws, but by 
repealing those, already in effect, which are found to 
militate against, and positively to conflict with, the 
natural rights, liberties, and sovereignty of the indivi- 
dual. Remember, friends of Progress, that it is the 
absence of bad laws, the abrogation of all complicated 
legislation and rule, which will secure individual liber- 
ty, and social unity, in America, or in any other country. 

General Education, I repeat, is needed ; not in the 
spiritless doctrines of Sectarianism, but in the vitalizing 
doctrines of Liberty, Fraternity, and Unity. For Igno- 
rance is prevalent in all countries. It deforms and 
degrades men ; keeps them under the dominion of sense ; 
makes them slaves to the caprices of ambitious rulers ; 
fills them with superstitions ; and renders man the 
mere circumstance of physical being ! 



HOW SHALL WE IMPROVE MANKIND? 25 

When I gaze upon the nations, my soul sickens at 
the triumph of Ignorance, — the demon of Gehenna, the 
imp of darkness, whose only food is sadness, sorrow, 
desperation, and woe ; going from cradle to cradle, from 
hovel to palace, roaring like a lion ; filling the world 
with foes, and fanatics, with crimes, cruelty, and idiocy ; 
while, at the same time, there is so much to bless and 
refine man: the vaulted, heavens, the prodigal earth, 
the neighboring Land of Spirits, and the abiding pres- 
ence of Supernal Love and Truth ! And I say truly, 
when I affirm, that the Roman Catholic and Protestant 
systems of religion lend their influence, in different 
ways, to foster a certain kind of ignorance, and to per- 
petuate the existing social falsities. 

From all this, therefore, you are, kind reader, admon- 
ished to break away. Arise in the strength of your 
manhood, and be the pioneer — first to explore and peo- 
ple the " land of promise ; " be the friend of education. 
The population of France, as it comes to me, can read 
about four in ten; the population of England, one in 
seven ; in Prussia, one person in eleven ; in Russia, one 
in three hundred and fifty ; but in this country, thanks 
to the blessings of incipient liberty, the people are 
nearly all able to read ! 

Here, then, we have a foundation to work upon. 
The people can read truth as easily as error. Go forth, 



26 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

therefore, ye "Harmonial Brothers," — go forth! teach 
your brethren the Principles of Nature, and expand 
their minds into unity and strength ! Let Universal 
Justice be emblazoned on your banners ; and teach the 
people to distinguish the means by which the greatest 
happiness may be secured to the greatest number. And 
in proportion as the people become enlightened in truth- 
ful principles, so will they repeal had laws, make gov- 
ernment more unitary, and live more comprehensive 
lives. In this way you can hasten the " new dispensa- 
tion," far more than by any isolated embryo organization 
of social interests. 

Do you still ask, " How should we go to this work ? 
What means employ ? " 

Again, and again — the spirit- world exclaims, and 
adopts as a principle, that — 

"Every human being has aright to the possession 
and enjoyment of four conditions : 

First : A farm without mortgage. 

Second : A home without discord. 

Third : A country without slavery. 

Fourth : A religion without creeds." 

These conditions can be secured only by and through 
Organic Liberty. Liberty is the parent of Anarchy 
wherever it is entertained as a mere sentiment, — as a 
poem or as a song, in the savage mind. The salvation of 



HOW SHALL WE IMPROVE MANKIND? 27 

the world lies in " Organic Liberty." And .America is 
destined to bring this saviour into being; it will be 
born in a manger ; but tbe kings of the earth shall bow 
before its simple grandeur and majesty ! America, in 
her present state, is but the representative of transi- 
tional REPUBLICANISM AND SENTIMENTAL FREEDOM ! This 

is the cause of so much political antagonism, — of so 
much party vice and deception ! And this is the cause, 
also, of the strength of foreign despotism ; the sneers 
of kings and slaveholders at American institutions. 

In order to secure Organic Liberty, as exhibited in 
the Principles of Nature, you are admonished to form 
yourselves into a 

IIAPMOXIAL BBOTIIEPJIOOD, 

whose Politics and Religion will be one and the same 
thing. The government will permit no monopolizing 
of the land by the few, to the in j ury of the many ; and 
will arrange all kinds of industry so concordantly with 
individual attractions and qualifications, as that a just 
remuneration for it will no longer be the de^radinGT 
incentive to labor, as now, but its accompaniment ; for, 
when properly arranged, Industry is Happiness. These 
conditions, as I am impressed, can be attained by adopt- 
ing forthwith, as a Band of Brothers, certain instrumen- 
talities, now in being, as your weapons. 



23 TIIE IIARMONIAL MAN. 

First : Free Speech, unlimited discussion. 

Second : Free schools for the masses. 

Third : Freedom of the press, by the fecundating 
power of which, you may shower upon the people the 
evangels of peace on earth, in the shape of newspapers, 
periodicals, pamphlets, tracts of the hour, and songs of 
Truth. 

Fourth : Free churches and honest teachers. 

Fifth : And Nocture } s own religion. 

Dear reader, do you not see your field — your glorious 
work — your means of warfare ? I do not undertake to 
disguise the design, which is given me to feel, that your 
Harmonial Philosophy must be your politics and your 
religion ! 

In conclusion, let me remark, that, with these princi- 
ples in your souls, inspiring you with the desire to make 
universal Love the bridal companion of universal Wis- 
dom, you should exercise " the right of suffage." By so 
doing, and using the means already specified, you may 
refine sentiment, and advance public policies ; purge the 
existing parties of their gambling propensities, and 
thereby destroy them root and branch ; and secure cor- 
rector conclusions on all public questions. And so, 
friends of humanity ! so you may learn the masses to 
venerate the Principles of Universal Truth and Unity ; 



HOW SHALL WE IMPROVE MANKIND? 29 

teach the rising generation to apply the right of suffrage 
to the highest and holiest purposes ; obtain the enfran- 
chisement of the slave ; secure the fraternization of all 
Europe ; the analysis of all religions ; the elevation of 
the heathen into harmonious nationalities; unlimited 
commerce ; and the establishment of the Spiritual 
Church of Humanity. 

It is something to us, my friends, that this hemisphere 
— our country — is already the battle-field of Truth and 
Error. The problems of the world are to be tested 
here, on American soil. Every theory of human im- 
provement is to be thrown into the retort of absolute 
experiment, and tried thoroughly. The most Utopian 
and diabolical — the celestial and terrestrial — are to have 
their acts on the stage. And thus the era of Plato — 
" the Spiritual Age " — will gradually steal into the 
world, when the divinity, and value, and natural con- 
nections of all things — of Music and Poetry — of In- 
dustry and Art — of Science, Phenomena, Philosophy, 
Theology and Life, — are to be unbosomed and re- 
vealed ! Old Theology is to disgorge its errors ; new 
Theology its mighty truths. In America we see the 
" IIope " of the "World ; the " only son " of the Nations, 
out of whose Constitution will yet he horn a new Social, 
Political, and Religious United States. Philosophy, 



30 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

at once the Incarnation of divine love and divine wis- 
dom, in its mighty sweep, mapping ont the whole na- 
ture, duty and destiny of Man, is even now the morning 
Star, the thrice-glorious herald of the coming day. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING AND CONTROL- 
LING THE FALL OF RAIN. 



That the true ITarmonial man is destined to apply 
the greater portion of mundane laws to the elevation and 
happiness of the race — that he will advance, by means 
of experiment and mental progression, to a standpoint, 
from which the common, physical processes of Nature 
will promptly subserve his beneficent purposes — is de- 
monstrated by what he has already accomplished in the 
world of material sciences. 'Matter is the foundation of 
Mind. Mind is the spiritualization of Matter. The 
superior portion of any organism is invariably positive 
to the dependent parts and functions, which are, there- 
fore, negative, and consequently, controllable by the 
superior power. The human Mind, like a flower, was 
unfolded gradually out of the universal Tree of Life — 
I mean, out of the eternal constitution of the infinite 
"Whole. It is marching forward and upward, attaining 
more and more unto sovereignty of influence, and be- 
coming daily the most startling and incomprehensible 



32 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

wonder of the world — the mystery which only superior 
Intelligences can ever hope to fathom. 

What I have recently discovered in respect to man's 
future doings amid the elements that are now playing 
wildly among the clouds, the mountains and lofty peaks, 
yet untamed and undisciplined, will be found set forth 
in the following four letters, addressed originally to the 
Editor of the Hartford Times. 

SUBJECT STATED.— FIRST LETTER. 

About eighteen months ago, I wrote and delivered a 
discourse on " The human mind considered as a motive 
power ! ? ' — treating of the past and prospective achieve- 
ments of human Intelligence in the domain of the physi- 
cal world ; and was then impressed, without understand- 
ing the full import of the statement, or the remotest 
possibility of its ultimate realization by man, to employ 
the following apparently extravagant language : 

" The mission of Mind, as a motive power, is to sub- 
due and adorn the Soil ; exterminate all unwholesome 
developments in the vegetable and animal worlds ; and 
to transform extensive plains, now non-productive and 
useless, into gardens of health and comfort. By the 
magic of mind, rough places will be made smooth, the 
crooked straight, the wilderness to blossom as the rose ; 
and the cold, damp, pestilential winds which now sweep 



TIIE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING KAIN. 33 

over the earth — spreading consumption and negative 
diseases in every direction — will ultimately be changed 
into a healing influence, calm as the evening zephyr 
breathing over the gardenized fields and vineyards of 
the land, fraught with sweet perfumes. . . . Man 
will yet learn, how to create and preserve an equilibrium 
bet ice en earth and atmosphere. The hot deserts of 
Arabia, now mere seas of sand and desolation, will yet 
appear, under the well-directed mechanical treatment 
and scientific skill of man, as beautiful, productive, and 
habitable as the undulating valleys of Italy. He will 
be enabled to instigate, control, and direct the fall of 
rain over such portions of land as need moisture — 
elevating, thus, much parsimonious soil to the height of 
richness and abundance, and to the bringing forth of 
pure productions. He will spread civilization over the 
dominion of the heathen. He will convert the darkest 
forests into gardens of beauty ; the disagreeable vegeta- 
bles and animal forms, which now disfigure the face of 
nature, will be overcome and banished ; and the lion 
and the lamb will lie down together in peace. The 
lightning that novj performs the duties of a courier, 
and which sometimes still ventures to go off on private 
excursions, declaring itself at times independent of man's 
pursuit and power, will yet be the means, the chief 
agent (under man's direction), of conducting away from 



34 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

unhealthy localities the pestilential miasm which gene- 
rates disease and debility among mankind. And mean- 
while, in its concentric gyrations through the broad 
tracery of conductors in the air, the lightning will emit 
the most sweet seolian music which the mind can possi- 
bly imagine." 

This statement or prophecy, or whatever else you 
desire to term it, may be found on page 19 of the Seer, 
vol. III. Harmon ia. 

I am sensible of the fact, Mr. Editor, that the fore- 
going description of the future accomplishments of 
Mind in the fields of matter and among the elements of 
nature, will appear to a certain class of minds as imagi- 
native and hyperbolical in the extreme. The man of 
superficial information, derived mainly from newspaper 
paragraphs and elementary books on natural philosophy, 
will exclaim, " What nonsense to suppose that insignifi- 
cant man can so manage the laws of nature as to cause 
rain to fall, or prevent it from descending, just as he 
pleases ! " 

Another, less informed, with a hereditary confidence 
in the exclusive safety and sanctity of the " good old 
days of Adam and Eve," when trees grew just as the 
Lord had ordained, when the lightnings were free from 
the audacious interpositions of Dr. Franklin, and the 
rain descended through the will of God and the instru- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING EAIN. 35 

mentality of prayer, in view of the present proposition, 
exclaims: "What a blasphemous attempt to interfere 
with the ways of Providence ! How can the rain fall 
1 upon the just and unjust,' if science be allowed, in the 
hands of wicked men, to control the phenomena of the 
atmosphere?" A person who could imagine an objec- 
tion of this sort, certainly must be closely related to 
that sectarian party which opposed the introduction of 
Vaccination as a preventive or palliative of the terrible 
symptoms and consequences of Small Pox — opposed it 
on the ground of conscientiousness and veneration ; 
that it was an attempt to escape the punishments, or 
mitigate the sufferings, which the Lord, in his Provi- 
dence and jurisdiction, saw proper to inflict upon the 
children of men ! 

Then again, there are persons, who, having large hope 
and great faith in the developments of the future, yet 
conscious of many disappointments proceeding from 
sources where they anticipated certain success, will 
exclaim : " We much desire such a wedding between 
the earth and air, but we fear the project will prove 
impracticable, and altogether too good to be true ! " 

But for the present, Mr. Editor, I propose to notice 
no further the objections which may arise in certain 
minds, and proceed to lay before your readers the addi- 
tional information I have received, by recent interior) 



36 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

investigation, concerning the possibility and practicabil- 
ity of controlling the causes of Rain, and modifying 
storms, by an application of scientific principles al- 
ready well ascertained. 

Analytical research and synthetic knowledge, super- 
seding the present almost universal ignorance of geog- 
raphy, meteorology, and the sub tiler sciences, develop 
means for the melioration of the human condition, and 
create desires for better things obtainable. Starvation, 
drudgery, servitude, want, and the fear of want and 
disease, will become ridiculous evils and intolerable ac- 
cidents of existence. There is now a stock of practical 
scientific knowledge accumulated, the fruit of many 
ages, much of which remains unapplied, but which, in 
this age of newspapers, no longer can be withheld from 
the nations of the earth. The ideas of dark ao-es are 
superseded now by intuition and knowledge based on 
experiences. And now, since man has already accom- 
plished so much among the elements of nature, it is 
no longer safe to say, oat and out, that anything is 
impossible which appears contrary to the so-called es- 
tablished theories of theologians or scientific men. 
And as Sir Isaac Newton received his first suggestion, 
perhaps lesson, on gravitational science from a humble 
source, so it is possible that modern savans may obtain 
light on some questions of philosophy from authorities 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF TKODUCING KAIN. 37 

not labelled " orthodox," or regarded as worthy of can- 
did and serious attention. But I must away to the sub- 
ject of my present impressions. 

Man is the Master of the Globe. From hence we 
affirm that he is also the master of its so-called impon- 
derable fluids, of its atmospheric phenomena, and mas- 
ter of all the diversified and multitudinous effects grow- 
ing out of them. Humboldt, Hutton, and others, have 
remarked upon the modifying influence exerted upon 
seasons, temperatures, and climates, by hills, trees, and 
mountains, water, inhabitants, and the cultivation of 
the soil. "How can man," says a writer, "'who pre- 
tends to disarm the thunder-cloud by means of a few 
metallic points fixed to his houses, refuse to admit the 
influence exerted upon tempests by the myriad points 
offered by the forests with which he covers his moun- 
tains and hills ? " An eastern philosopher says : 
" Persistence in a unitary cultivation of the globe will 
result in a regulation of the seasons, so as that they 
shall always be most favorable for vegetation and the 
development of human happiness." He even goes far- 
ther, and thinks that by perseverance in this method, 
" man will ultimately succeed in reducing the ices 
which defend the polar regions, and conquer those ex- 
treme parts of his legitimate domain, inasmuch as the 
Deity could not have created them for the single and 



38 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

cruel purpose of . causing disasters and shipwrecks." 
So you will observe, Mr. Editor, that I am not alone in 
the faith that man may control the circulations and 
phenomena of the air. 

An ignorant villager who considers his native place 
the centre of creation, and a fair illustration of all the 
countries of the world, having never reflected upon 
the causes of rain, or upon the laws of nature which 
regulate temperature, the seasons, and vegetation, will 
not be apt to believe anything in the practicability of a 
plan apparently so stupendous. But the mind of gen- 
eral information knows that we have but to examine 
the elevation of a country, its locality, its latitude, its 
geology and extent, in strict reference to the level of 
the ocean (the deepest surface on the globe), in order 
to obtain a full knowledge of the climate of that coun- 
try, and of what kind of vegetation and animal life it 
is capable of yielding for the use of man. It has been 
ascertained and clearly enough estimated, by Alexander 
Humboldt, that one acre of land in the tropical climate 
may be made to yield as much as fifty acres in any part 
of Europe. Of course all this is more or less connected 
with the phenomena of the atmosphere. The countries 
of Peru, which extend along the western declivities 
of the Cordilleras, are all the year teeming with a 
luxuriant vegetation of many varieties. "Why is this ? 



THE PIIILOSOrilY OF PEODUCING EAIN. 39 

Because the Sun, and the Earth's own electricities 
there, prevent the descent of heavy rains, and even the 
appearance of clouds, but cause instead the falling of 
deivs over the extensive fields. And I think that Art, 
which is but Nature, can produce similar results in 
all climates and countries of the world. At least, so 
am I, at this present moment, impressed to affirm 
openly. 

Science, marching slowly but surely onward, from 
observation to observation, from analysis to synthesis, 
has already discerned certain fragments of these great 
possible things, and will doubtless do so more perfectly 
hereafter. But all that science can now do, or all that 
the sponsors of science can now say, is, that all efforts 
to control climate must prove non-availing, since the 
constitution of the atmosphere is affected, its equilibrium 
destroyed, evaporation takes place, and rain descends, 
principally from causes exterior to the earth and to its 
magnetic currents. 

Very well ; this I understand. The celestial bodies, 
chiefly the Sun and Moon, extemporize an attraction 
which affects our atmosphere periodically, with different 
degrees of intensity, according to the relative position 
of the Earth to them. Furthermore I understand, that 
among those exterior causes may very properly be 
noticed the revolution of the Earth upon its axis. From 



40 THE HAEMOXIAL MAN. 

this cause we may look for an adequate explanation of 
the so-called " trade- winds," and similar currents of 
atmosphere. Of course, the celestial bodies, the Sun 
and Moon especially, conspire to produce upon Earth 
these phenomena. The equilibriums of our atmosphere 
are, by these general causes, frequently disturbed — 
giving rise to winds, tempests, hurricanes, storms of rain, 
etc., causing often ^reat calamities to befall man from 
an excess of water and wind, in some localities and 
seasons, while, in others, the people, and flocks, and vege- 
tation are suffering from an absence or deficiency of the 
same identical elements. 

Xow, Mr. Editor, it seems to me that the equal wel- 
fare and proper development of humanity require a 
little closer approach to a kind of republicanism or 
" democracy " among the elements and electro-magnetic 
circulations of the upper air ! How seems it to you ? 

Do I hear you reply, that " Divine wisdom has made 
these things as perfect as they can possibly be ! " I 
answer "agreed," considering that Man is lord of crea- 
tion, of the soil, of the animal kingdom, etc. But let 
me ask, Did the Deity do anything for man, which 
man can, by social progress and intellectual develop- 
ment, accomplish for himself? Ear frorn it. Man is 
all activity ; and he has a world to act upon ! By acting 
upon it in a systematic, scientific, and unitary manner, 



THE PIIILOSOniY OF PRODUCING RAIN. 41 

he will, if lie learns to act in perfect harmony with the 
immutable laws of nature, prevent all excesses either in 
wind or water — prevent all irregularities in the atmos- 
phere, all perturbations in the electro-magnetic currents 
of the globe, all sudden changes of temperature — hence, 
all pestilences, hurricanes, chronic or fever diseases, and 
most of all the calamities to which mankind is now sub- 
jected, both on sea and land. 

Those things which man is not organized to do for 
himself — please observe, Mr. Editor — are all accom- 
plished with unexceptionable particularity and rectitude 
prior to his existence ; while those things which he can 
do are left apparently unfinished and every way incom- 
plete. For instance : man cannot make or develop plan- 
ets ; hence, they are made for him. But houses and 
ships, which he can make, are subsequently left for him 
to construct. Man could not have arranged the differ- 
ent orbs of heaven in their positions, nor given to them 
their definite proportions of number and measure, nor 
the beautifully harmonious motions which they possess 
and exhibit; hence, these things were all perfectly un- 
folded before man breathed the breath of life. 

But observe : while everything in the earth and in the 
heavens is characterized by a regularity of movement 
and harmony of condition, there are other things which 
appear (as they are), unfinished and susceptible to im- 



42 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

mense improvements, namely, man, the lower king- 
doms, the surface of the earth, and the atmosphere 
which envelops it. This is the lesson I learn from the 
contemplation of these things, and my conclusions de- 
rived therefrom are, as a matter of logical necessity, ap- 
parent to every mind that thinks from cause to effect. 
As you will perceive, it is my impression that social in- 
equalities, unwholesome plants and brutes, geological 
irregularities, and the perturbations now so prevalent in 
the atmospheres of different localitie's and countries, are 
each and all to be overcome and brought within the 
control of that intelligence which is but just being har- 
moniously unfolded from the brain of man. And as 
soon as an electro-magnetic equilibrium can be brought 
about in the air, which I conceive to be artificially prac- 
ticable in two ways, then will man penetrate the moun- 
tains of ice now encircling the north pole, remove the 
icy zones from the Arctic regions, melt away the obstruc- 
tions now preventing navigation in the seas and straits 
of those latitudes, extend rays of warmth over countries 
now cold and deserted; and thus, those waters, and 
islands, and territories, which are geographically so fa- 
vorably situated for the universal interests of mankind 
in the polar regions — "the north-west passage," now 
scught, but not found — (all of which is now useless to 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING RAIN. 43 

him solely from atmospheric causes), will be rendered 
the most attractive portions of the human domain. 

" These are very hopeful and Utopian speculations," 
you remark. " I see no plan by which all this, or any 
portion of it, can be realized." 

Xeither do I as yet. But this I know, that when I 
began the writing of this letter I had a strong, clear, in- 
terior " impression " that certain specifications, etc., of 
bringing much of these productions about, would be 
given to me as I proceeded with my writing. And in 
the confidence thereof I rest assured, because I have 
never had sufficient reason to doubt. The object of this 
letter is, to state the proposition, remove a few whimsi- 
cal objections which might arise, and present certain 
advantages to mankind which such an achievement 
" among the clouds " would certainly secure. It is to 
be hoped that scientific men will bestow some portion 
of their intelligence upon the question of controlling 
the formation and fall of rain, and institute certain min- 
iature tests and experiments in order to demonstrate the 
truth or fallacy of the plan hereafter to be developed. 

In the mean time, Mr. Editor, until something more 
comes to me concerning this subject, which, when it 
comes, I will hasten to write and send you, I have the 
pleasure of remaining, Yours for Humanity. 



44 THE HABMONIAL MAN. 

POPULAR THEORIES EXAMINED.— SECOND LETTER. 

Ill accordance with the promise made at the conclu- 
sion of the preceding communication, I again per force 
of the will-power compose myself, even to the induction 
of the interior condition whence proceed my impressions 
of ISTature — and these I now send to you without reser- 
vation. 

There is a general repugnance to the contemplation 
of scientific themes — especially to a close study of dry 
physical facts and the causes of common phenomena — 
because doubtless they are so elaborately presented by 
certain scholars, with an overwhelming array of hard- 
words exhumed from Hebrew, Greek, and Latin germs ; 
nevertheless, it seems to me that I shall neither be 
tedious nor " dry," because it will be remembered that 
my subject is liain, and my impressions seldom permit 
me to conceal thought beneath the imposing- livery which 
ordinarily adorns the mind of a Cambridge student. 

Whether distributed throughout the air, or flowing 
over the earth, Water is essential to the existence and 
welfare of the animal creation. It gives diversity to 
the magnificent scenery of the globe. That order and 
harmony which is everywhere so conspicuously manifest- 
ed to the investigating mind, are inseparably connected 
with the diversified operations of water. The gushing 



• THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING EAIN. 45 

fountain, the mountain torrent, the quiet lake, the bab- 
bling stream, the immersion of all currents into the 
ocean, the ascension of its dissolving elements into the 
invisible air, from whence by certain electrical condi- 
tions it descends again in varied forms to moisten, enrich 
and fertilize the soil — all constitute the most interesting 
mundane subject for investigation of the true lover of 
wisdom. Water in nature never appears free from 
impurities. It invariably contains gaseous sand, clay, 
or saline matters, partially derived from the atmosphere' 
through which it falls to earth, and partially from the 
subterranean springs whence it originates and flows 
upward and over the surface of the lowest land. The 
constitution of water is well enough understood. But 
quite certain am I that future chemistry will discover a 
more intimate relation between the dual constituents 
of water and what is now termed " Electricity." This 
agent, although its character has been much impaired 
and traduced of late — being denounced as the cause of 
every new " manifestation " regarded as inexplicable — 
will yet be found to form the basis of both water and 
atmosphere. 

Chemists are already aware that electricity is the only 
agent by which botli elements, composing water, can be 
simultaneously evolved and held in free conditions. 
It is ascertained that one part of water, hydrogen, may 



46 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

be by itself elicited in various ways — as, for instance, 
by the action of sulphuric acid upon zinc, causing it to 
decompose and combine with the oxygen in the water, 
thus forming a sulphate of oxide of zinc, which of 
necessity sets the hydrogen at liberty. But here let it 
be borne in mind that " Electricity " is only capable of 
eliciting the constituents of water in a pure and simul- 
taneous condition. This fact has an important bearing 
upon the theory of producing and controlling rain. 

Next, as to the atmosphere. Essentially considered, 
the invisible envelopment of our globe has been long 
represented as consisting of a large quantity of Nitro- 
gen, less of Oxygen, a minute trace of carbonic acid, 
azote, and an irregular quantity of aqueous or watery 
vapor. It is a curious fact, that in the air, water is 
found to be omnipresent or coextensive with it, and 
always in a state of invisible vapor ; *and both elements, 
although not " simple " as the ancients taught, but com- 
pound and different in constitution, are yet identical in 
the exhibition of their phenomena when heated or re- 
duced in temperature. Water and air, when elevated 
in temperature (or heated) are alike changed as to their 
destiny, and become lighter by expansion. Cold air 
and cold water have a superior density, and therefore 
occupy lower strata in the scale of elements. Boiling 
water will float upon the surface beneath ; and so. 



TIIE PHILOSOPHY OF PEODUCING EAIN. 47 

heated air, in consequence of being lighter, can no more 
descend to the cold below, but ascends and becomes an 
attractive medium or " magnet " to the parties compos- 
ing the stratum beneath. This idea of attenuated air 
or water forming a magnet in relation to colder and 
lower bodies of the same elements, is an idea, Mr. 
Editor, which I would have lodged firmly in the mind. 
It has something to do, it seems to me, in bringing 
about the phenomena, evaporation or condensation, and 
rain — which we desire to comprehend. 

The experimental evidence that water is always 
diffused throughout the air, as an invisible vapor, is 
obtained in many ways. It is of common occurrence, 
that a decanter or pitcher filled with cold water, and 
placed upon a table in a warm room, will, in the lapse 
of ten minutes, become literally covered with dew, or 
rain, and large drops will bedim its surface. Has the 
water filtrated through the vessel % No. Whence then 
does the dew proceed % Ah ! here we have it ; the 
cause of rain, at least in this case, is simple ! The tem- 
perature of the water in the vessel is colder than the 
temperature of the water invisibly subsisting in the air ; 
consequently the invisible vapor, surrounding the de- 
canter, is rapidly cooled and condensed (reduced in 
temperature and in density), and therefore it rains upon 
the surface of the vessel. Now reduce the temperature 



48 THE HAKMONIAL MAN. 

still more, and you have frost / still more, and snow 
appears ; and the final reduction of the temperature 
brings the ice, which is water in its lowest state of 
condensation or solidity. 

These are familiar occurrences, and scarcely excite a 
single thought ; but they are none the less essential, as 
data, from which to develop the practicability of our 
leading proposition. 

Furthermore, it is worthy of attention in this connec- 
tion, that water is a negative element when compared 
to the atmosphere. The air is positive to water, and is 
capable of decomposing and dissolving its constituents 
under certain conditions. By the action of atmospheric 
magnetism (sometimes termed caloric), water is decom- 
posed. Its particles become separated or vaporized. 
And although water is more than eight hundred and 
fifty times denser or heavier than air, still air endows it 
partially with wings — empowering them to fly with 
" the celerity of thought " throughout the empire of 
nature, in some other form to bestow a good upon the 
organic kingdom of the soil. This fact is evidenced 
not only by the universal evaporation of water, but, 
more commonly, by the drying of a piece of cloth which 
has been saturated with water, and hung out in the 
heat of the sun. The water soon leaves, and the cloth 
is dry. This fact illustrates the intimate relations sub- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING RAIN. 49 

sisting between the water" on the earth and the air which 
envelops it. And all this points to the turnpike or 
highway whereon constantly travel a class of terrestrial 
phenomena, which, as yet, the science of chemistry has 
only hinted at, but has not discovered. 

Having introduced a few familiar facts to your read- 
ers, Mr. Editor, with which doubtless the most of them 
are well acquainted, I now proceed more particularly 
to describe the philosophy of rain. 

The view commonly received is, that through the 
calorific action of the Sun, the atmosphere and the sur- 
face of the water become heated. The process of va- 
porization thereby occurs, and the watery vapor is thus 
made constantly to ascend from the oceans and rivers 
of the globe. When the atmosphere becomes over- 
charged with this vapor, then sudden changes in its tem- 
perature cause the water to return to the earth in three 
different states of condensation; namely, as rain, as 
snow, or as hail. 

It would seem from this, that cold in the clouds is 
necessary in order to condense the watery vapor of the 
air, and produce the deposition of dew or rain upon the 
earth. But this theory is unsettled by the fact, that the 
heaviest rains are generally preceded by exceedingly 
sultry weather. Hence some philosophers have set put 
to account for it upon a different principle. 



50 THE IIAEMONIAL MAN. 

The next theory propounded — if my impressions be 
correct — is : that two masses or volumes of air, thor- 
oughly saturated with moisture or aqueous vapor, and of 
different temperatures, will, when they approach and 
mix together, become overcharged with the moisture, 
and a part of it would of necessity be precipitated in 
the form of rain to the earth. This is measurably true. 
The commencement of rain is frequently attended with 
such a phenomenon ; i.e., two unequally heated vol- 
umes of atmosphere being fused into one mass. But 
there are difficulties which this theory does not remove. 
First it implies that in case of the admixture of two 
unequally heated portions of air, only the superabund- 
ant moisture in them would be liberated and dejected 
to the earth, while the unsujyerfluous vapor would still 
remain in the clouds, all ready to pour out more rain on 
the least reduction of their temperatures. This is dis- 
proved by the fact, that dry and cool weather generally 
succeed the cessation of rain. It is also much impaired, 
as a theory, by the fact, that large bodies of w T ater, or 
of any liquid, require much time in running together. 
The waters of the Amazon or of the Gulf Stream con- 
sume a long period in flowing into union with the con- 
stituents of the Atlantic ; and the same remark is ap- 
plicable to all large bodies of fluid on the globe. The 
same principle obtains in the atmosphere, among the 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING EAIN. 51 

clouds, when two of immense size come into actual 
juxtaposition with each other, and are tending to inter- 
mixture. 

The distinguished Mr. Ilutton has confined his atten- 
tion too exclusively to the immediate meteorologic phe- 
nomena associated with the falling of rain ; he has 
overlooked the deeper and more subtle causes of show- 
ers and storms; but, notwithstanding this, his philosophy 
is generally received among many of the scientific as 
established by experiments and experience. Neverthe- 
less, I am impressed to consider it as unsound ; not only 
for reasons already stated, but because heat is frequently 
the precursor and the concomitant, while comparative 
cold is almost invariably the successor, of a shower or 
storm of rain or snow. 

Having brought the subject to this point, indicating 
the difficulties which the commonly received theories of 
the cause of rain do not explain, I have nothing before 
me now but to detail my philosophy of this matter, and 
to see whether or not it is supported by reason and expe- 
rience. 

It is my impression — indeed, I may say I " see " it 
to be unqualifiedly the case — that all atmospheric and 
meteoric phenomena are wholly referable to the alter- 
nate action of electricity. The mineral storehouses of 
the interior of the globe are the sources whence this 



52 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

subtile terrestrial agent is derived. There are enormous 
laboratories — natural galvanic and electrical batteries 
— in the earth, which generate all the elements compos- 
ing water and air. The force exhibited by volcanoes is 
derived mainly from these inherent laboratories. In 
the Island of Panavia may be seen volcanic fires and 
elements, bursting up out of unseen sources, forcing 
their way through the water at a distance of nearly 500 
feet. Every such eruption of internal fires is accompa- 
nied by the elimination of vast quantities of terrestrial 
electricity. 

Where think you, Mr. Editor, do these volumes of 
electricity go ? My impression is, that they go to sup- 
port, vivify, and to refine, the various substances, ani- 
mate and inanimate, and to compose and replenish 
water and air, and all else, which diversify and adorn 
the empire of existence. Essentially, I find that elec- 
tricity, galvanism, magnetism, and voltaism, are of one 
parentage, being at base identical ; although, by under- 
going the processes of disintegration, etc., the primary 
element (which is common electricity) becomes divided 
up into sympathy with surrounding substances, and so 
it becomes differently refined and differently disposed 
throughout nature. It was this fact which led some 
philosophers to suppose that there are two kinds of elec- 
tricitv — the resinous and vitreous. But Dr. Franklin 



I 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING RAIN. 53 

was right when he affirmed the existence of but one hind 
of electricity, existing in two different conditions — the 
positive and negative. 

Yon will remember that I have noticed the fact that 
it is electricity only which can decompose water so as 
simultaneously to liberate both oxygen and hydrogen in 
a state of complete purity. Also the other fact, that 
water, though eight hundred times heavier than air, is 
capable of uniting with it, as brother with brother, as 
they are — indeed, that water is coextensive with air ; 
all of which goes to establish that both water and atmos- 
phere have one and the same paternity — namely, the 
inherent electricity of the globe, which, like the Sun, is 
one immense galvanic battery. 

Allow me to lodge in your mind another proposition : 
that positive electricity is magnetism, and magnetism is 
comparatively warm ; that negative electricity is unde- 
veloped magnetism, and is comparatively cold ; that 
these male and female forces are always everywhere 
present ; and that they produce all the action and reac- 
tion, motion, and development, in the heavens above, in 
the earth beneath, and in the waters under the earth. 

The male and female — or positive and negative — 
principles range, side by side, hand in hand, throughout 
the whole domain of being. These reciprocal forces 
underlie all the phenomena of existence. They circu- 



54 THE IIARMONIAL MAN. 

late through the air ; between orb and orb ; through 
the life of trees ; between atom and atom ; control all 
animal functions ; and are, in short, the fundamental 
laws of all existence. When you have comprehended 
these Male and Female Laws, in the fulness of their 
operation, you have then found the " Philosopher's 
Stone " — the sure key which will, in the master's hand, 
unlock every conceivable mystery in the world of 
science and philosophy. They are the inherent prin- 
ciples of the Universe. A productive unity ; the Alpha 
and Omega of all refinement, production, and genera- 
tion! In the different kingdoms of animated nature, 
these laws beget the external manifestation of the 
sexes, and are familiarly termed Male and Female. In 
chemistry, they are known as Positive and Negative. 
In mechanism, they are Centripetal and Centrifugal. 
In the world of inorganic matter, so called, they are 
Attraction and Expansion. In the Sun, they are 
Light and Heat. In the Divine Being, they are Love 
and Wisdom. In the human mind, they are Passion 
and Reason. Bat enough has been said to impress the 
idea of an omnipre valence of unity and immutability 
in the Principles of Existence; to which we must 
always look for an adequate explanation of any physi- 
cal or spiritual phenomena. 

" Oh, this is all a mere speculation ! " Nay, far from 
i 



THE PIIILOSOPIIY OF PRODUCING RAIN. 55 

it, Mr. Editor. These are truths. By careful reflec- 
tion, you will see that these principles open a new door 
to the cultivation of the several sciences. Truth is of 
universal application. Parts of creation are but links 
in a grand series of corresponding links ; which, taken 
altogether comprehensively, constitutes the chain of 
cause and effect that binds in harmony the Infinite 
Universe. Go forth ; and leave all narrow thought ! 
Broad, free, magnificent generalizations will do you 
good! Our scientific men are full of " points," and 
plethoric with fragmentary "demonstrations;" (not 
spiritual) they are vastly too much engaged in isolated 
inspections and microscopic analyzations ; and so they 
see not the great general principles which sustain the 
broad realms of existence, physical and spiritual. 

We are told by the Primitive History (the Bible) 
that all things as they came forth from the hand of the 
Creator were pronounced " good." Still, we see low, 
poisonous plants ; destructive and venomous creatures ; 
large territories of country unfit for the habitation of 
man ; unfortunate conflicts between the sun, the sea- 
sons, and the soil — whole fields of vegetation and 
scores of ships destroyed by sudden hurricanes, or by 
protracted storms at the wrong time, etc. ; and man- 
kind, too, all disunited and diseased ! How is this to 
be explained ? Are these things " good " and right ? 



56 THE IIAKMONIAL MAN. 

Has man abused the freedom of the will, and perverted 
the animal kingdom, and the earth, the water, and the 
atmosphere? We are told, by certain rather popular 
authorities, that when Humanity fell, 

"Earth, through all her parts, gave signs of woe." 

Are we, then, to await the interposition of super- 
natural power before the defective conditions can be 
removed ? This is no theologic discussion, Mr. Editor, 
but an appeal to your Intelligence in behalf of a more 
rational way to explain certain discords, and how they 
may be harmonized with the interests of humanity. 
And it is, as before said, reasonable to suppose that 
everything is " good " when all things are considered 
by a law of adaptation. For instance : that every im- 
perfect or unfinished piece of creation is no result of a 
perverted free will, but is left in the order of Provi- 
dence for Man to complete by his own skill and ex- 
perience. And one unfinished piece is the atmosphere. 
So you can see, with me, the fields adapted for the 
manifestation of human discovery and control. 

" But where is your philosophy of rain ? " Be patient 
with me, Mr. Editor ; it will surely come, as I proceed 
with my writing. This letter contains enough sugges- 
tive matter for present reflection. And you may rest 
assured, that when more comes to me, the world shall 



THE nilLOSOPIIY OF PRODUCING RAIN. 57 

receive it. Hoping that we shall at last be able to con- 
trol rain, to some extent, and the temperature of the 
air, I remain. Yours for Humanity. 

PHILOSOPHY OF RAIN.— THIRD LETTER. 

An enlargement of our scientific knowledge, and a 
far more thorough and consistent understanding of the 
principles of correspondence or analogy, will unlock 
the deep or dark sayings of ancient prophets. They 
seemed to have seen, prospectively, unfolded a " new 
heaven and a new earth " out of the materials already 
in existence. 

In order to unravel the stupendous mysteries which 
hang over our social and spiritual destiny, theologians 
have puzzled their brains in constructing consistent 
commentaries, and these, in their turn, have puzzled and 
belittled the intellectual vision of all who have made 
them a subject of confiding and protracted inquiry. 
The common use, in primeval times, of symbolical or 
figurative language, so replete with ambiguities and 
with expressions so easily construed into diverse mean- 
ings — now furnishes the analytic student with the 
jpoioer always to make the ancient sayings correspond 
and harmonize with his ruling thought or established 
creed. 

But after all, Mr. Editor, suppose all the learned 
3* 



58 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

sermons and commentaries should at last turn out, like 
Jonah's prophecy to Nineveh, to be wholly untruthful : 
and suppose the " new heaven and new earth " should 
not be brought about " Spiritually," as some believe, 
nor by consuming with fire the present cosmical struc- 
ture, as others believe ; but suppose, on the contrary, 
the earth and the atmosphere should be transformed 
and thoroughly rectified by a practical application of 
physical, mechanical and magnetic principles — then let 
me ask, do you think that the authors of those sermons 
and commentaries would, like the same Jonah, " let 
their angry passions rise," and remonstrate with the 
Lord for changing his mind and not fulfilling their dog- 
matic sayings ? Or, would they hail with delight the 
immediate and progressive relief which would thereby 
be given to the industrial classes all over the world? 
It is well enough understood, that agricultural success 
or failure depends upon the seasons, climate, moisture, 
soil, and industry — just as these elements are benefi- 
cially harmonized or unfortunately disunited. And it 
would seem that the prophetic teachings of the ancients 
— their mythology and their theology alike — foreshadow 
something analogous to the statement contained in my 
first letter. Allow me to quote, as it comes to me, a 
few examples of apparent prefiguration : 

" The abundance of the sea shall be converted unto 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING PAIN. 59 

thee. There shall be upon every high mountain, and 
upon every high hill, rivers and streams of water. 
Blessed are ye that sow beside the waters — that send 
forth thither the feet of the ox and ass. There the 
glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers 
and streams ; wherein shall go no galleys with oars, 
neither shall gallant ships pass thereby. For in the 
wilderness shall waters break out, and streams also in 
the desert. And the parched ground shall become a 
j>ool, and the thirsty land springs of water ! I will 
open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst 
of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of 
water ; and the dry lands springs of water. I will even 
make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, 
to give drink to my people. And all the rivers of 
Judah shall now with waters, and a fountain shall come 
forth and water the valley of Shittim. He turneth rivers 
into a wilderness, and water springs into dry ground. 
And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they 
may prepare a city for habitation, and sow the fields, 
and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of in- 
crease." 

In these expressions — which are most manifestly the 
simple narratives of prophetic convictions individually 
entertained — I can see quite clearly that the skill of 
man will do for the earthy for water, and air, precisely! 



60 THE HAKMONIAL MAN. 

what the ancients, in the absence of all knowledge of 
various scientific possibilities, supposed was only possible 
to the Supreme Being. But I have quoted enough for 
the present. For my impressions now lead to a contin- 
uation of the philosophy of rai?i, as commenced in the 
previous communication. 

As already affirmed, the male and female forces are 
coextensive with all ponderable and imponderable mat- 
ter. They operate within and upon the largest and 
smallest structures with the same geometrical precision. 
And here let me again say, that they were the founda- 
tions upon which the eternal universe of matter was 
laid ; the formation of the sidereal heavens ; the devel- 
opment of the mineral, vegetable, and animal king- 
doms ; the organization and perpetuation of man. 
These duodynamical principles are especially operative 
between earth and water, between cloud and cloud, and 
between them and the earth again. The electric fluid 
travels so amazingly rapid, it is almost impossible to 
calculate all the positive and negative relations among 
the various substances developed by it, even in a flight 
of a single league. This moment these relations subsist 
between two clouds; the next moment finds these 
clouds in positive relation to some point of earth ; next 
the earth is in negative relation to a mass of aqueous 
vapor in the clouds. And so these duodynamic rela- 



THE PHILOSOrilY OF PRODUCING RAIN. 61 

tions are incessantly changing places, giving rise to the 
various alterations of temperature, to thunder and light- 
ning, to rain storms, to the descent of gentle showers, 
to the rushing destructive tornado, and to every other 
phenomenon of all seasons and countries on the globe. 
In this connection, I will state another immutable law 
characterizing the operation of these forces ; and which 
is without variableness in its relation to them. It is 
this : 

Positive force, in fluid or elastic bodies, always 
attracts and contracts / while the negative force invari- 
ably repels and expands the same fluids and bodies. 
For instance, the human pulse corresponds with exact 
precision to these motions ; because every attraction is 
succeeded by a contraction in the veins — every repul- 
sion by an expansion in the appropriate arteries. The 
recently discovered scientific process of gilding metals, 
etc., by the action of these reciprocal forces, in solutions 
of silver and gold, is another illustration. Laroche, an 
experimentalist and physician of St. Petersburg, 
assisted by Dr. Crusell, produced a very line illustration 
of the action of these forces upon the atoms circulating 
in the fluids of the body. They applied the positive 
(i.e., the attractive or contractive power or) force to the 
eye, and directly formed miniature " cataracts ; " and 
what is still more demonstrative, they then applied the 



62 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

negative (i.e. the repulsive and expansive force or) 
power, and dispelled the trouble from the eye in ten 
minutes. The same law is everywhere present and 
equally operating in nature. 

Now " stand from under," Mr. Editor, for I am about 
to give you a shower — rather, to show just how that 
result is produced from the clouds. 

First remember that the atmosphere, like the crust of 
the earth, is stratified — has different layers of air and 
temperature — and looks like the successive peels of an 
onion! It has several different currents also; some 
going from the south to the north ; others from west to 
east ; and still others, above these, going in exactly 
opposite directions. All this, I am quite sure, will be 
recognized by future science. 

These diverse aerial strata and electro-magnetic circu- 
lations are produced — First, by the resistance or friction 
of the air against the surface of the earth, occasioned by 
the rapidity with which it turns upon its axis. Second, 
by the evaporation of water, and by the ascension of 
terrestrial electricity, from all wet places. And Third, 
by the calorific or magnetic action of the sun upon the 
whole organism, and more especially upon the African 
continent. 

The upper air is composed of electricity in different 
degrees of refinement and states of activity. And, in 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING RAIN. 63 

order to provide for its more complete accumulation and 
development, the lowest stratum of air — that which we 
inhale — is generally rectified from humidity (or moist- 
ure), and so constitutes a kind of non-conducting pedes- 
tal for the rest of the air to repose upon. This lower 
stratum is what electricians term an " Insulator." This, 
in clear and dry weather, detaches the electricity of the 
upper regions from the earth, aud cuts off all communi- 
cation between them. Hence we may sometimes look 
up, in this continent, day after day, and see the clouds 
floating over our heads, but receive none of their con- 
tents on the earth. 

Chemical experiments have shown that when the sur- 
face of water is cooled, the particles composing it are 
negative ; while the vapor of water is always positive. 
If vapor be reduced in temperature and condensed, then 
positive electricity (i.e., magnetism) is liberated. And 
so vice versa / the negative force remains behind when 
water is permitted to evaporate into the formation of 
clouds. 

We continually breathe the rectified air, or that stra- 
tum which constitutes the Insulator, detaching the upper 
strata from any immediate communication with either 
our lungs or the earth. This stratum in our latitude is 
comparatively free from water and from every descrip- 
tion of humidity, which, as in the tropical countries, 



64 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

conducts the magnetism of the earth to the clouds, and 
their electricity to the earth, and in some localities pro- 
duces almost continual fogs or mists, or protracted tor- 
rents of rain. 

The lower portions or surface of clouds, as I before 
remarked, are " magnetic " in their action upon the 
ocean and upon all wet places. They perpetually draw 
certain invisible vapors from the earth. Still, these 
clouds are in positive and negative unison with their 
own contents and surfaces, and remain suspended, until 
that isolated union is broken up by some point of earth 
or volume of electricity arising from it. 

The upper portions of clouds are cold and electrical ; 
the under surfaces are warm and magnetic. According 
to my vision, the highest clouds, like the highest moun- 
tains, are capped and chilled with snow. This is so even 
in warm climates. The under surfaces, meanwhile, 
being magnetic and positive, attract aqueous vapors 
from the earth, and contract them into a more compact 
union with the nebulous elements. But this attraction 
of the atoms of the water cannot occur, unless the insu- 
lator in a measure becomes saturated with moisture, 
and hence no longer a barrier and support, but has be- 
come an excellent conducting medium between the earth 
and the clouds. On the other hand, if the insulating or 
non-conducting stratification of air (which we breathe) 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING EAIN. G5 

be not disturbed by a near approach to the earth of the 
upper stratum, or by the moisture from the ground 
ascending into it ; then it would be impossible to obtain 
rain from the heavens, even though the clouds be sur- 
charged with vapor, and weigh many millions of tons 
more than the crystalline barrier beneath. 

So strange, and yet so simple, is the philosophy of 
rain or droughts ! For I think you can now understand 
that a very little moisture converts the insulator into a 
conductor for the ascension of invisible vapor from the 
earth ; that a general humidity of the lower stratum is 
the sign of rain in our climate ; a dryness of it indicates 
a complete insulation of the clouds ; and that, should 
this dryness continue for any length of time, as in sultry 
weather, the clouds will be overcharged, and, attracted 
by some point of land, pour out their contents in certain 
localities with thunder and lightning, and do as much 
damage to harvest by their isolation, abundance and 
violence, as was before done by the absence of moisture 
and of gentle showers upon the teeming fields and 
green pastures. 

There ! you now have my — or rather Nature's — phil- 
osophy of the formation and fall of rain. And now, as 
it is stated, I will invite you to take a private excursion 
with me throughout the different countries, and compare 



66 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

the meteoric facts of the globe with the laws laid down 
in this letter. Let us now proceed. 

You see what this theory absolutely requires, do you 
not ? It requires that water should remain dissolved in 
fine vapors, in the form of clouds, above the lower stra- 
tum of atmosphere, until the insulation be broken by 
some electrical changes between the earth and the nebu- 
lous strata ; that then the temperature of the under sur- 
faces changing from a magnetic to a comparatively cold 
or electrical state, the vapor is rapidly condensed, and 
is repelled, with electricity, to the earth in the liquid or 
congealed form, according to the prevalence of the neg- 
ative (or electric) medium in the air at the time. 

Let us now examine, mountainous districts, with strict 
reference to this requirement. If our philosophy of 
rain be correct, then we shall find that lofty mountains, 
by penetrating the lower stratum — the Insulator — pre- 
vent the regular accumulation of vapor into clouds, and 
also the terrible storms of rain which occur in tropical 
latitudes, over extensive plains, after a long " spell " of 
dry and sultry weather. Instead of " terrible storms " 
in high latitudes, we are to look for perpetual fogs, 
mists, and drizzling but not torrents of rain. If moun- 
tains, constantly penetrating and disturbing the other- 
wise non-conducting stratum nearest the earth, prevent 
the regular formation of clouds and the occasional de- 



the rniLOSoniY of producing rain. 67 

scension of rain, then, according to our theory, we must 
expect they should increase the amount of evaporation 
and the amount of moisture. It is well known that the 
most extensive and navigable rivers, instead of obtain- 
ing their waters from the lowlands and springs and val- 
leys, on the contrary, take their rise from among the 
most extensive chains of hills and mountains. Baron 
Humboldt, whose mental structure compels him to in- 
dividualize and systematize all his observations of Na- 
ture, gives his testimony, that "an individual river, 
which takes its rise among the mountainous districts of 
South America, contributes more water to the ocean 
than all the rivers and streams to be found upon the 
continent of Africa." And if you will but examine the 
origin of the rivers of Africa, you will see that the 
principal ones on the continent flow down from the 
highlands and lofty elevations under the Equator. 
Examine, also, the rivers of California and of countries 
still more mountainous, and you will see satisfactory 
evidences that towering points of earth constantly dis- 
turb the insulating stratum, and give rise to much rain 
without violence, and to mists and dews continually, 
even when the earth in those localities is not in need of 
it. 

Let us now look at extensive plains. If our philoso- 
phy be correct, then over level tracts of country the 



68 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

lower medium must become comparatively dry — must 
become a complete insulator; and clouds, filled with 
positive and negative forces, must either float for a long 
time very high, or else not be seen for weeks together, 
in consequence of being more powerfully attracted to 
other portions of the globe. 

In illustration of this, examine the deserts of the earth. 
Whole years sometimes elapse without a shower. 
Storms of wind and sand are abundant. Sometimes a 
cloud is a meteoric curiosity ! The Arabian plains are 
provided by nature with no elevated points of land — no 
lofty eminences ; and so, according to our philosophy of 
rain, the insulating medium is seldom broken, and the 
fertilizing showers seldom fall upon the level countries. 
Or, look at the now very interesting and golden Au- 
stralia. This country, so attractive to the devotees of 
that extensively worshipped God — Mammon — destined 
to become the land of a new Republic, is still defective 
in its meteorological possessions. There are no discov- 
ered rivers sufficiently large or deep to encourage the 
people to open internal navigation ; although, as the isl- 
and becomes more known in this respect, there will be 
found many portions of rivers deep enough to float large 
ships and vessels adequate for commercial purposes. In 
some parts of this country the mountains are numerous 
and sufficiently high to disturb the upper region of 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING EAIN. 69 

clouds, which then pour their surcharged contents into 
deep and wide gorges or ravines, but leave other por- 
tions of the country destitute of the requisite moisture. 
On portions of this continent you can see no high moun- 
tains, nothing to disturb the existence of electricity in 
the almost invisible clouds, nothing to remove the in- 
sulation between the earth and them, except the abso- 
lute withdrawal of the sun's heat when that luminary is 
at the farthest southern point ; and so, what is the fact 
in Australia? Such localities are seldom visited by 
gentle and fertilizing rains. Its rivers are very low dur- 
ing eight months of the year, and some of them are too 
shallow for navigation. But these remarks are not ap- 
plicable to bodies of water with much extent of surface ; 
for tides and spray have much the same effect as prom- 
inences or lofty peaks of earth, in disturbing the insu- 
lating stratum, and producing clouds and the descent of 
fogs and mists. 

Look at the fogs of Newport, or examine the islands 
of the sea. The formation of rain clouds and the 
almost immediate precipitation of their moisture usually 
commence along the coasts and shores. Violent or dis- 
astrous storms of rain seldom visit islands. The excep- 
tions to this law are very few. Constant vaporizations 
and drizzling rains characterize nearly all islands and 
irregular or rasped coasts. For illustration: examine 

O So 



70 THE HABMONIAL MAN. 

the meteorologic phenomena of Cape Horn; observe 
the frequent rains on the rocky coasts of Norway ; the 
constant disturbance of the insulation and the quantities 
of showers in the Archipelago of Chronos ; and many 
other examples may be had, showing how tides and 
spray, dashing against rough, rock-bound shores, beget 
a constant irregularity in the circulations of the electro- 
magnetic elements between the earth and the atmos- 
phere. 

It should be borne in mind, meanwhile, that high 
mountains, when covered with trees and vegetation, are 
vastly better conductors than those elevations which are 
not so adorned. The trees, having many points, besides 
being such " cold-water drinkers," are, in consequence 
thereof, excellent for conducting and moderating the 
processes between the clouds and the soil. 

The influence of mountains extends for many miles 
around. They perforate the insulator, and set the elec- 
tro-magnetic currents in motion ; these give immediate 
rise to aerial and terraqueous winds ; the electric fluid 
now darts from point to point, puts the surface of the 
earth in direct communication with the lower surfaces 
of the clouds, as zinc with copper plates in acid ; and so 
it is that mountains sometimes do not themselves receive 
as much rain as the plains and lowlands adjacent to 
them. The importance of this fact in regulating 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING BAIN. 71 

storms, showers, etc., will hereafter receive more 
application. 

This philosophy of storms receives additional con- 
firmations from the meteorology of Mexico. In this 
country you see tivo quite different seasons ; not four, 
as we divide our year. They have an El Estio — a dry, 
magnetic season ; and a La Estacion de las Argas — a 
season of wind, fog, and chilling or negative rains. 
The country is also by the natives differently divided, 
into hot and cold districts, implying the preponderance 
in the former, the tierras ealienta, of magnetism ; and 
in the latter, the tierras frias, of electricity. In these 
countries you may see complete illustrations of the 
foregoing philosophy. Were it not for the fact that 
the table-lands of Mexico are near enough to the sea- 
shore to obtain the moisture gradually arising from the 
effect of the spray upon the insulator, the first stratum, 
they would yield but little vegetation and be unfit for 
agriculture. These vaporizations pass on by the "trade 
winds " during the El Estio or dry period, and form 
clouds near the tops of the mountains of the interior. 
In the meantime the ta5&?-land is suffering more or less 
for the want of rain. Indeed, the agriculturist is often 
compelled to construct canals, and bring water from 
small streams to moisten the burning dust and over- 
heated vegetation. Irrigation, therefore, or oaralca, is 



72 THE HARMONIAL MAX. 

resorted to on the plains, because the insulation is not 
enough disturbed which detaches the earth from all 
fecundating communications with the upper strata of 
the atmosphere. 

But now, Mr. Editor, I must cease to write, because 
my impressions cease to flow. It is to be hoped that 
neither you nor your readers will be impatient to see 
the conclusion of " the whole matter," because this re- 
sult cannot be accomplished within the limits allotted 
to this article. As the explanations are now completed, 
as I think they are, you may expect the " plan for pro- 
ducing and controlling rain " in my next. What that 
jplan, will be is no more known to my brain than it is to 
yours ; and so I confess that my curiosity to know 
" what's coming next ? ' is not in the least allayed by the 
fact that mv hand has traced the foregoing. But still 
I remain, Yours for Humanity. 

THE ELECTRIC PLAN.— FOURTH LETTER. 

With this communication I am impressed to termi- 
nate my correspondence. 

Doubtless, the pro and con of new propositions should 
always be considered, for there is no other way to ar- 
rive at rational conclusions. But if you are one of those 
prudential conservatives who have acquired an habitual 



the ruiLOSornY of producing rain. 73 

practice of doubting the practicability of every new 
proposition, and who consequently take it upon them- 
selves to denounce, deride and discourage, every con- 
spicuous step toward bettering the conditions among 
men, then all I can say is, that if you have " patience" 
enough to wait an age — that is, until the present gen- 
eration of profound individuals have all gone to the 
Spirit-land — you may then learn, from improved liter- 
ary magazines and encyclopaedias of maturer erudition, 
concerning the utter simplicity and historical feasibility 
of every plan which I shall presently suggest. 

Do you suppose, Mr. Editor, that civilized men and 
women, who know that this world is not such a narrow, 
crowded place as unreasoning people believe, will con- 
tinue to exist in the depths of social injustice and ser- 
vitude ? Will they continue to exist in dissatisfaction, 
working, as many of them do, day and night, to keep 
soul and body decently together, to give their chil- 
dren a respectable education, and to enable others 
to support expensive fashions and live on unwhole- 
some luxuries ? ISTay ; every well-organized, harmo- 
nial and rational individual in this city, as in all 
places of human habitation, has a reasonable desire for 
hours of recreation from labor each day, in order to 
cultivate more of his being than merely the spinal 
column or the muscles of his right arm ; and that, too, 



4 



74 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

without being perpetually haunted with the brow-wrink- 
ling idea of not having enough to " pay his bills on 
Saturday night," or of not being able to " make both 
ends of the year meet " without various pecuniary em- 
barrassments. Working constantly, merely to support 
the body, is unnatural and wrong ! And it is not much 
to be wondered at, that especially among the less en- 
lighted and fortunately situated classes, recourse is had 
to the "fire-water" in order to induce instantaneous 
sensations of "'richness" and absence from one's fatigue 
and mental care ; while amongst others, a rough, high- 
handed rowdyism and intemperate proceedings come 
of a too constant confinement to some ridiculous study 
of dead languages or classics, to monotonous occupa- 
tions, or to several kinds of unentertaining pursuits. 
Social pleasures, literary amusements, theatrical enter- 
tainments of an ethical nature, for such as have a taste 
for them ; musical representations by amateurs ; con- 
versational soirees ; lectures, etc., upon the boundless 
resources of our common humanity, and upon topics 
calculated to increase popular knowledge of the means 
of developing the faculties of the human mind, and to 
perpetuate the general happiness of the race altogether ; 
— such, Mr. Editor, are the imperative demands of all 
well-organized men and women, to be engaged more 
or less in the after portion of every day ; and the world 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING RAIN. 75 

will live in discord and dissatisfaction until it is all ac- 
complished. 

Has mankind arrived at the highest summit of civili- 
zation \ Far from it. He still treads the lowlands, and 
lives in the valleys of human attainment. He yearns 
and hopes for a better world; because, forsooth, he 
imagines this nether sphere, though so full of evils and 
inequalities, to be as good now as it ever can become. 
Most piteous must hereafter appear the toil and suffer- 
ings, the endless fears of want and disease, which now 
distinguish the present social state! Immersed in the 
multifarious concerns of his daily existence, how wholly 
disqualified is the laboring man for entering that " su- 
perior condition " which rolls up the curtain hanging 
between the present material circumstances and the 
" new heaven and the new earth " hereafter to be un- 
rolled by the courage and skill of the human mind ! 
Poor miserable man is he who sees no paradise in the 
future for the earth's inhabitants ! If he be a civilized 
European, and has a desire to live decently, comfortably, 
respectably, with a moderate desire for an enjoyment of 
the pleasures of existence, he must toil incessantly for 
the payment of his rent, " for his victuals and clothes," 
and for the education and welfare of his children. And,i 
having no faith in the remotest possibility of the ulti- 
mate harmony and perfectibility of this material, proba- 



76 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

tionary world, he very gravely and solemnly sets out, 
through the medium of teachers and preachers, to culti- 
vate some acquaintance with the better world to come. 
To secure a place there for himself and family, he pays 
a certain portion of his acquisition. Then, for too much 
wrong living, must pay the physician in money, as well 
as nature in pains and distress ; and for his rights he must 
pay the lawyer, or pay for an attempt to obtain them, 
whether he succeeds or not. But it is seen that these 
civilized evils " don't pay ; " never did -never can. As 
a consequence of man's ignorance of his true nature and 
of the real sources of substantial happiness, there is a 
vast chain of mountainous evils ascending, like the Alps, 
in formidable array before his onward march. But 
these mounts he must cross as Napoleon with his army ; 
then a " hereafter," even in this life, of sunny climates, 
of delicious food growing in luxuriant abandance, and 
of various joys, now imagined as only possible to the 
Spirit-land (because the endless resources of this globe 
are yet unknown), will be the common inheritance of 
humanity. 

Faith in the great principle of progression, Mr. 
Editor, — faith in the inherent goodness and perfecti- 
bility of everything in earth, air, fire, and water ! This 
is the " faith which will move mountains" of unwhole- 
some conditions, and rapidly develop the still slumber- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING RAIN. 77 

ing potencies of sense and science. The artificial means 
for developing wealth and motive power ; the electro- 
magnetic mechanism for rendering deserts of sand as 
inhabitable and productive as the State of Ohio ; the 
agricultural inventions and electrical processes which 
will enable one man to accomplish as much as can now 
be done by a thousand ; all this, Mr. Editor, making the 
means of living abundant and cheap in every true 
sense, will usher in that terrestrial paradise — that " King- 
dom of Heaven on Earth" — which the good always 
pray for, and which the down-trodden poor man as 
devoutly yearns to perceive and enjoy ! 

Let us now return to our plan. Erom the philosophy 
of electricity and magnetism, we learn that cold is 
caused by a superabundance of the former and heat by 
a preponcleration of the latter in the earth, in water, 
and in the atmosphere. "We likewise learn that electri- 
city alone can decompose water, leaving its constituents 
pure and free from other elements ; also, we learn that 
there is an insulating medium of air — the stratum 
nearest to earth — by which the clouds are suspended 
until perfectly formed and filled with vapor, and then 
caused, by a local disturbance of this insulation, to fall 
either as mist, as rain, as frost, as snow, or else as hail, 
as one or the other fluid preponderates at the time. 
Moreover, we learn that mountains and trees establish a 



78 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

permanent communication through the insulator and 
the electric currents imprisoned in the grand reservoir 
of the upper regions ; and so is produced quite frequent, 
but not violent, rains on the adjacent lands and valleys 
for several leagues around. 

You will remember, I think, the examples of this law 
taken from all portions of the earth. AVithin the terri- 
tory of Venezuela are many illustrations. In Camana, 
where very moderate mountains rise gradually behind 
from the coast, and no high points to disturb the insula- 
tion, with abundant magnetism in the lower stratum, 
the thermometer averaging from 80 to 82 degrees, there 
you find a warm, sunny sky, cloudless ten months of the 
year ; only two months being diversified by dews, sun- 
shine, and fertilizing rains. While along the southern 
part of the Orinoco, the reverse is the case ; ten months 
of rain, and two comparatively clear and sunny. Of 
course, the land is high, and covered with a dense forest. 
And if you find any exceptions to this Law, the expla- 
nation may be had by examining what tree, or rocky 
coast, or angular point of earth, there is which, at times, 
forms a temporary communication with the upper cur- 
rents, and thus produces the fall of rain. 

As Nature, from the operation of these visible causes, 
produces rain in every State in America, so may Art, 
which is but Nature manifested through Man, accom- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING RAIN. 79 

plisli the same results ; and the following plan is deeply 
impressed upon my mind as being at once simple, prac- 
ticable, and — considering the extensiveness of the good 
to be achieved thereby — quite easily put up, and inex- 
pensive. 

Upon some highly-elevated ground — say upon the 
brow of a considerable hill — construct an Electric Tower. 
The higher this tower ascends above the level of the 
ocean, the more absolute will be the determination of its 
influence upon the currents of the upper strata, and the 
more perfectly will it be capable of directing the wind 
and other aerial circulations. In the top of this tower 
should be constructed two machines of very large pro- 
portions ; one, an electric instrument <, for the accumu- 
lation and development of this negative principle from 
the earth ; the other a galvanic battery, for the purpose 
of introducing magnetic currents and for decomposing 
water. This structure, with its electro- magnetic con- 
veniences, will answer to produce and control rain in an 
uneven country, say like the State of Connecticut, for a 
circle or district one hundred miles in diameter. But 
on a desert it would be influential upon a circle of not 
more than two hundred miles. In fact, when situated 
upon a plain surface, where water is scarce and heat is 
abundant most of the year, as in Arabk or in some parts 
of Africa, the tower should not be expected to act per- 



80 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

manently upon more than thirty miles of air in every 
direction from it. 

This circle should be connected with the Central 
power by means of wire conductors, on a plan precisely 
analogous to the poles and conductors of the magnetic 
Telegraph. Of course, it is unnecessary to describe 
the methods of constructing an electrical apparatus ; for 
I mean nothing different from what is already known 
to scientific electricians. The dimensions of the cylin- 
drical glass or revolving portion of the instrument, let 
me remark, should not be less than 16 feet in diameter, 
and thick enough every way to resist all centrifugal ten- 
dencies, when making seventy -five revolutions a minute. 
This cylinder should be moved by a steam-engine of the 
required power ; and the heat for the boiler may be ob- 
tained by a galvanic decomposition of water. You will 
please bear in mind, Mr. Editor, that electricity is a 
negative principle, — is cold ; and, while it acts upon 
aerial vapor to condense its atoms into rain, frost, snow, 
etc., it, at the same moment, gives rise to certain currents 
of " wind," so called, which have much to do in all cases 
in determining on what part of the globe the condensed 
vapor shall descend. It is this invariable meteoric law 
which we now propose to bring within the dominion of 
art. 

Let us suppose, for illustration, that the Electric 



TIIE PIIILOSOrilY OF TEODUCING RAIN. 81 

Tower be constructed in the vicinity of this city, say on 
" Prospect Hill." From this point, radiating in all di- 
rections, are metallic conductors, for the purpose of fix- 
ing the operations of the electric currents, whether they 
be generated by the artificial mechanism, or by the in- 
herent forces of the earth. We wish to put a harness 
upon this "detached " and hitherto unmanageable Sov- 
ereign Agent among the elements. Very well : now we 
desire to make the rain fall upon New Haven, on the 
supposition that the weather has long been dry and sul- 
try, the garden vegetation is being destroyed, and the 
farmers of the environs much desire the benefit of rain. 
But there are no clouds formed near Hartford ! What 
is to be done ? Ho you not remember the proof that 
w r ater, in a vaporized state, is omnipresent and coexten- 
sive with air ? Yes. What, then, is now recruired to 
develop clouds ? Manifestly nothing more than to reduce 
the temperature of the atmosphere in several localities 
within the electrical circuit. And the moment you have 
formed a few fleecy clouds in this way, they will join 
yon in the more rapid evaporation of aqueous matter 
from the earth, on the principle already explained. 
Well, how is this to be done % By the accumulation and 
elimination of electricity from the various " Depots." 
How are these to be made? Within an area of 100 
miles diameter, there may be as many special Receivers 



82 THE HAKMONIAL MAN. 

as the meteoric and agricultural conditions of the country 
require. Every farm and every city may be provided 
with one. This plan should be extensively adopted in 
some portions of Australia and elsewhere. These depots 
or receivers are nothing more than mammoth Leyden 
Jars, provided with perpendicular metallic conductors, 
fixed on the inside of the receiver, and extending into 
the air as far as possible. Ten such depots will cost 
about as much as a popular church.- The upper end of 
this metallic conductor should be provided with & plati- 
num discharger with many angles — say a dodecahedron, 
or, at least, an octahedron, with the points and lines 
sharply denned, and presented, free from all contact 
with trees, etc., to the surrounding atmosphere. 

When the receiver is filled with electricity to over- 
flowing, by the action of the ponderous machine in the 
Tower, then there is no escape for it except up the per- 
pendicular conductor, and into the eight or twelve sided 
discharger. From this the electric fluid will dart off in 
every direction, and, at night, the exhibition will be 
most beautiful, comprising all the meteoric phenomena 
of the Aurora Borealis and Northern Lights ; because 
the philosophy is the same ! 

The Northern Lights are produced by the discharge 
of the electric fluid from the north pole — darting into 
the atmosphere, reducing the temperature, and instantly 



THE PHILOSOPIIY OF PRODUCING RAIN. S3 

frosting the invisible vapor; and this gives the white 
and other reflections of that phenomenon. Now, all 
we propose to do, in warm climates, is to produce rain, 
and not frost, by this simple principle. Or, where rain 
is too abundant, to so employ the galvanic power at 
certain points of the compass as to elevate the tempera- 
ture, perfect the atmospheric insulation, and send the 
clouds away to countries where the fall of rain is de- 
sirable. This is no speculation ; it is a common law 
of cause and effect. 

The clouds may be formed as already described. 
They now float overhead, light and fleecy, and far from 
that state of combination which makes the heavens look 
black and tempestuous. But the people of New Haven 
first need a good " sprinkling," and so, pro bono pub- 
lico, let us love our neighbor as ourself, and set the 
machinery in operation. How shall we commence? 
First, break up from the Tower all communication with 
the "Rain Depots" at Springfield, East Hartford, West 
Hartford, Middletown, Norwich, etc., and establish 
a full positive and negative connection with the re- 
ceiver at New Haven ! Let the earth's electricity, thus 
obtained and concentrated, pour into the clouds at that 
point, and forthwith the insulation is broken; the 
winds rush to that place, bearing the clouds upon their 
bosom; the condensation of vapor is now rapid; and 



84 THE IIAEMONIAL MAN. 

the rain descending — making the communication more 
complete and permanent between the earth and the 
clouds — a shower or protracted storm may be obtained 
for several miles in every direction from the initial 
interruption. In some countries where the lower 
stratum of air is very dry and free from moisture, 
the electric fluid should be made to reach as nearly 
as possible an elevation of 600 feet above the level of 
the ocean. This may be done by building a circular 
framework jointing, like a ship's mast, and supporting 
the metallic conductor by iron braces set in glass 
sockets; for the insulation of this whole instrument 
must always be perfect, in order to have the entire 
charge of the receiver enter the air from the lofty 
angular platinum Knob. 

Electricity is not produced or created, but is merely 
obtained by friction of non-conductors ; that is to say, 
of two substances which are already so filled with the 
fluid that they neither receive nor impart as manifestly 
as substances not so impregnated. The inexhaustible 
source is the Earth. And there is no limit to the 
quantity of it which may be artificially obtained from 
this fountain. 

" But do you suppose to bottle up electricity in the 
Electric Tower?" Nay : not so, Mr. Editor ; let me 
asrain describe. The area of three hundred miles (or 



THE PIIILOSOrilY OF PRODUCING EAIN. S5 

one hundred in diameter) should not only be " fenced 
in" by conductors suspended by poles analogous to the 
magnetic telegraph method ; but there should also be 
stationed, wherever the inhabitants of cities or agricul- 
turists require rain to fall, special depots or prime con- 
ductors, connected, as before described, by means of 
metallic wires supported by poles, to the instrument in 
the Tower. This is all which is proposed to be done. 

I know that it is supposed by some modern philoso- 
phers that a receiver can accumulate the electric cur- 
rents only on condition of being in the immediate vi- 
cinity of the revolving cylinder. But this idea is clearly 
disproved by the fact that the earth itself eliminates 
this subtile agent constantly, while, at the same time, 
the natural prime conductor, or Ley den jar, is situated 
from 200 to 6,000 feet above the earth, and is, in fact, 
constituted of all the higher and rarer strata of the at- 
mosphere ! The tops of trees and the summits of moun- 
tains are the conductors thither, as explained in the pre- 
ceding letter. 

But the earth is a far more economical electrical ma- 
chine than the one which I propose. It is more like 
what chemists term an electrophones / and I can easily 
foresee what an improvement may be wrought upon the 
Plan herein stated. There are objections, however, to 
describing these economical methods now — also, the 



86 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

minute modus operandi of the scientific system here 
suggested ; because the people first require experience 
in the practical operations of the Rain Mechanism. 
They will only accept those suggestions as possible or 
practicable, which stand recommended by past chem- 
istry and the well-known demonstrations of electrical 
science. And so, throughout these letters, I have fol- 
lowed my impressions in paving, with already conceded 
scientific facts, the pathway to the philosophy of pro- 
ducing and controlling rain. 

The galvanic battery in the Tower is designed to ac- 
complish a result which the other instrument will not 
do. It is supposed by most persons that the seasons, 
with their variable climates and phenomena, are inevita- 
ble in the order of Providence. But, in fact, the seasons 
are not necessarily owing to the revolution and relation 
of the Earth to the Sun ; nor yet altogether upon the 
nearness or distance of the latter from it ; because elec- 
tricity and magnetism are the causes which change tem- 
perature, producing sometimes snow in summer, and 
June weather in the month of January ; for it is well 
enough known that the Sun is much nearer to us in win- 
ter than in summer, and yet the former is much the 
colder season. But the latter fact is partially explain- 
able on the ground that the Sun rays fall more oblique- 
ly on the Earth during the winter than in the summer. 



THE PIIILOSOrilY OF PKODUCTNG RAIN. 87 

The Sun's influence is more manifested as a control- 
ling power in the grand system of planetary revolution 
and equilibrium than in the production of the seasons. 
The principal source of heat is magnetism, whether 
produced by the Sun or the internal laboratories of the 
Earth. I have already said that the Sun and the 
Earth were galvanic batteries ; because every particle 
of matter composing them is a magnet / and every 
pulsation of its (or their) inherent elements is felt 
throughout all the veins and arteries of existence. Upon 
this law of producing heat and accelerating evaporation, 
I see how man can, by artificial agencies, render the po- 
lar regions temperate and genial ; melt away the ice in 
those countries far more rapidly than the Sun can do 
it ; impart a galvanic energy to the soil, and stimulate 
the growth of much vegetation now only to be found in 
tropical climates. 

You surely know how all metals may be fused by the 
galvanic magnetism. You remember that Sir Hum- 
phrey Davy had a grand Galvanic battery erected for 
his use, at the Royal Institution in England, whereby 
he was enabled to melt every possible substance obtain- 
able, and determine certain great chemical facts which 
had troubled the scientific minds of Europe from the 
first. And, in addition to this, you know how the 
Sun's rays can be turned and altered — yea, polarized, 



88 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

and condensed, and concentrated, and " doubled and 
twisted " like hempen cords — to suit man's o'ermas- 
tering will, and to subserve his purposes ! By a sys- 
tematic arrangement of convex lenses and highly pol- 
ished mirrors of steel, the sun's rays may be sent half 
across the continent ; and places now cold may thus be 
warmed ; swamps and marshes may be boiled dry of 
their waters ; the Dead Sea may be converted into a 
living body ; and the wilderness made to blossom and 
yield abundantly. " This is impossible ! " Impossible ! 
!Not so, Mr. Editor, for man is destined to put all ene- 
mies (to his happiness) beneath his feet. Do you not 
think it reasonable to believe that Civilized Man will 
yet decompose the enemies in the shape of ice, stagnant 
water, and unwholesome marshes, and just as deliber- 
ately, too, as did Archimedes, by a simple arrangement 
of looking-glasses, set on fire all the ships of the ene- 
mies who had resolved to besiege Syracuse ? 

The galvanic battery in the electric tower should be 
employed in tropical climates and upon deserts fre- 
quently. It is designed to decompose water, in order 
to aid and augment the formation of rain in the upper 
strata ; and the electric communication being from the 
first established within the circle of atmosphere to be 
influenced, the clouds will thence form rapidly. They 
will remain floating from point to point overhead within 



THK PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING RAIN. 80 

the prescribed area, until they become enough filled to 
settle close to the upper surface of the insulator (the 
lower stratum of air) ; and this may be broken at thirty 
minutes' action and discharge of the contents of the 
prime conductor into the air. The rain will fall in the 
vicinity of whichever prime conductor is employed. 

But in our climate, where the formation of rain- 
clouds is carried on rapidly enough by nature's own 
galvanic processes in connection with the sun, the arti- 
ficial battery can scarcely be required. And yet it 
would not be wise to construct an Electric Tower Avith- 
out a good battery of mammoth dimensions, capable of 
elevating the temperature to 212 degrees, at which 
point water boils, and its'vapor rapidly ascends toward 
the upper strata. The ascension of this vapor will not 
disturb the insulator, as might be supposed, neither will 
the Tower, as a point in the air ; the object is, to render 
the under surfaces of clouds " magnetic " to particles 
of water on the Earth. Chemists well know that caloric, 
or heat, has a tendency to produce equilibrium. Heat 
endeavors to produce, in all contiguous substances, an 
equal degree of "temperature. This is accomplished by 
radiation, by conduction, and reflection. In other 
words, if a small body of vapor, visible or invisible, in 
the air, be condensed or frosted, and then its under sur- 
face heated and held in magnetic (or positive and neg- 



90 THE HAKMONIAL MAN. 

ative) relation to the surface of water on the globe, the 
results will be a continual evaporation of water, an en- 
largement and multiplication of clouds in the vicinity, 
and gradual changes of " wind and weather " in the 
lower stratum — all being the prognostications of a 
shower or storm. The under surfaces of clouds will re- 
main vaporized and magnetic until a large and steady 
volume of electricity is caused to enter them. The ac- 
tion of this fluid is immediately to reduce the tempera- 
ture, and condense the vapor into rain. This effect is 
wrought by the electricity which mountains impart to 
the clouds ; and the rain descends in obedience to this 
simple law, as we have clearly demonstrated. 

The further specifications, etc., for the exact construc- 
tion and management of the machines in the Tower, in 
connection with the electric circuit and " special receiv- 
ers," are for the present withheld. It is sufficient now 
to indicate the fact, that wherever an insulated prime 
conductor or depot is put up, and whenever the electric 
fluid is directed from that part into the clouds, say for 
the space of twenty-four hours, the phenomena will be : 
first, a wind blowing directly across the circle to the 
depot which is magnetically charged ; second, a reduc- 
tion of temperature in the lower stratum ; third, in all 
cases, the absence of tornadoes, and also of gusts, except 
where hills intervene ; fourth, the gentle fall of rain for 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING RAIN. 91 

several leagues from the point where the insulation was 
first broken ; fifth, by reversing the poles or breaking up 
the connection between the Tower and the depot, a 
rapid cessation of the rain in consequence of restoring 
the requisite dryness to the lower stratum ; sixth, the 
absence of thunder and lightning, except to a slight ex- 
tent, and a general rectification of the breathing me- 
dium from all the impurities arising from dense mois- 
ture. Such is a summary view of the effects to be 
philosophically expected from our Plan. It is no more 
mysterious or impossible than the Magnetic Telegraph 
or the Ericsson Caloric Engine ! 

By these means every state can control its own 
storms ; and every city may secure to itself the fall of 
gentle showers in summer, or prevent them, whenever 
the general welfare of the inhabitants requires it. And 
so, Mr. Editor, 

" Is the winter of our discontent 
Made glorious summer by this " — 

new application of scientific principles already well as- 
certained ; and so, too, are 

" All the clouds that lowered upon our house 
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried." 

But enough. There are many things to say to agri- 
culturists about the best methods to restore equilibriums 



92 THE HAKMONIAL MAN. 

to the soil ; also how clearing and under- wooding ele- 
vated places, the destruction of trees on high hills, etc., 
disturb the equilibriums between the air and soil in the 
meadows and lowlands, deteriorate the ground, etc. ; 
and still other suggestions which now flow abundantly 
into my mind ; but I must trespass upon your space and 
patience no longer with further detail. I will, there- 
fore, now conclude Permit me, however, to express to 
you, Mr. Editor, my thanks for thus furnishing me with 
a channel through which to approach a large and intel- 
ligent class of minds. In accordance with my first im- 
pressions of this whole subject, generally received more 
than eighteen months ago, portions of which have been 
suggested by different authors, I have written, and you 
now perceive my conclusions. With a firm confidence 
that they are true to the great unchangeable principles 
of Xature, and hence capable of a practical application 
to the wants of mankind, I remain, 

Yours for Humanity. 



ANSWER TO SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIONS. 



That a multitude of so-called scientific objections will 
be urged against the practicability of " the foregoing 
methods to improve the physical conditions of our globe, 
I have- no doubt ; because, unfortunately for mankind, 
certain mental organizations have not outgrown that ob- 
noxious and supercilious spirit which ever stands in the 
pathway leading toward truth and fresh discovery. The 
strongest objections have not been written ; those I have 
seen are but the superficial ebullitions of superficial 
minds. Indirectly, however, as an insurmountable dif- 
ficulty in the way of our philosophy, and with a com- 
mendable degree of scepticism and timidity respecting 
the strength of his own positions, an individual, imme- 
diately subsequent to the publication of my letters, 
made the following request : 

' ' The undersigned is desirous of obtaining 1 facts in regard to tlie 
rising of water in wells and springs, just before a rain. Accounts of 
occurrences of this nature are respectfully requested. It is desirable 
that particulars should be given ; such as the increase in the depth of 
the water, and the length of time elapsing between the rising of the 
water and the falling of the rain. Whether, if the interval of time is 



94 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

short, the rain is heavy or light ; and whether this phenomenon, in 
any given instance, invariably happens before a rain, year after year, 
or is a casual occurrence. " 

The idea here designed to be conveyed, in this solicit- 
ation for hydrological facts, is, that the rising of water 
in wells and springs just hefore a rain disproves the non- 
existence of the Insulator as set forth in the philosophy. 
The barometer is certainly a good hydrometric instru- 
ment, which quite accurately measures or indicates the 
specific gravity — the density and rarity — of fluid bodies; 
and I am quite persuaded that this instrument will 
add its testimony to the hydrodynamical statements al- 
ready made. The rarity and density of fluid bodies, 
particularly the atmosphere, are difficult to determine, 
although the mercurial substance never fails to manifest 
the preponderance of either cold or heat, or the near 
approach of storm-clouds and the electricities which 
control them, as well as the absence of those elements 
whereby rain is produced and protracted. 

Wells and springs are very accurate hydrometrical 
facts. Our philosophy demands no better evidence of 
the rectitude of its fundamental principles on this sub- 
ject — no better demonstration that the ultimate deduc- 
tions and conclusions are legitimate, and will lead to 
practical applications of those principles. It was ex- 
plicitly shown, and the reasons stated, that the whole 



ANSWER TO SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIONS. 95 

phenomenon of rain is produced and controlled by the 
alternate action of positive and negative electricities — 
the one warm, the other cold ; or, in other words, by 
one element — the one, magnetism, which is positive — 
the other, electricity, which is negative. Clouds are 
formed on this principle. This principle is universal. 
It circulates the blood, actuates the vitalities of organic 
life, and sustains the illimitable univercoelum in its eter- 
nal revolutions through the vortex of infinite space. 

The lower surfaces of clouds are magnetic, whilst the 
upper surfaces of water are electrical. Previous to a 
rain-storm, wells and springs rise, because the water is 
attracted, through the dry insulator, by the magnetism 
and positive force in the upper stratum of clouds, or by 
the attractive power in the region where the clouds are 
destined to form. "When formed into dense masses, then 
partially by virtue of their own weight, and partially by 
some extraneous disturbance of the Insulator , the con- 
tents of the clouds are precipitated to the earth. When 
scientific men shall perfectly understand the principle of 
water being powerfully attracted from the ocean, the 
causes of the " water-spout " observable at sea, then the 
rising of " wells and springs just before a rain" will 
cease to be an objection to our philosophy of storms. 
The common reason, that the " sun attracts the water," 
is manifestly unsound. It is true that the sun does ex- 



96 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

temporize a mighty volume of magnetism, which, like 
the golden rivers of Paradise, flow over the fields and 
countries, spreading gladness and loveliness in all habi- 
tations of men. But the ascension of water, the vapor- 
ization of aqueous material, is an effect exclusively of 
the particular causes already defined. Therefore, for 
the present, I pass on to other objections. The article 
containing further strictures, appeared in a " respecta- 
ble " daily,* and I quote it entire : 

A. J. DAVIS ON RAIN. 

The Times of Tuesday evening has furnished us with the concluding 
letter of a series by Mr. Davis on the " Philosophy of producing and 
controlling Rain." The lovers of science were, no doubt, startled by 
the announcement contained in the first letter : and it is probable 
that many who were unacquainted with the former extravagances of 
its author have had the curiosity to wade through the unfolding of 
the promised plan. If there were any such, it is certain they have 
quitted the concluding sentence of the last article with either pity 
for the writer, or sheer disgust with his fancies. 

It is simply the fear of seeming to take a too great notice of noth- 
ing, that prevents the instituting a sort of review of these four ex- 
traordinary letters. We might insinuate against the very great extent 
of the information possessed by the spirits, under whose direction 
these letters purport to have been penned, when they ' ' impress " on 
the mind of their agent to declare that certain facts ' ' will in time be 
recognized by scientific men," whereas many of these facts have been 
so recognized for a long period ! (Mr. Davis' impression on the con- 

* This article is taken from the Hartford Courant, bearing date 
February 23, 1853. The author's name did not appear, but the stric- 
tures were indorsed by " W. F. S." 



ANSWEE TO SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIONS. 97 

nection of electricity with water is an instance in point. ) We might, 
on behalf of the world, most profoundly thank Mr. Davis for having 
explained fully and exactly what has hitherto proved a mystery to 
scientific persons — The Aurora Borer/Us. But we should be censured 
by an enlightened community for bestowing so much attention upon 
what they themselves regard as a matter beneath their consideration. 
There are three questions, however, which, we submit, it would not 
have been inappropriate for Mr. Davis to have answered : 

1st. Who is expected to furnish funds for the erection of a new 
" Mammoth Leyden Jar," after the inevitable destruction of one or 
more of them by every thunder- storm which may chance to pass. 

2d. What will become of the vapor created by the " boiling dry of 
swamps and marshes," and will it not be likely to fall again in the 
very place it is most desirable it should not fall ? 

3d. Allowing that the Rain Apparatus is built and in working order, 
and that it has proved itself able to accomplish all its proposer claims, 
is it supposable all the inhabitants of any place would desire rain at 
one and the same time ? Such an unanimity would be without a paral- 
lel. Who, then, is to determine whether or not it shall rain at any 
given time ? 



This little work, as I was at first impressed it would 
be, is designed to throw out " Thoughts for the Age ;" 
hence the business of criticism comes properly into the 
composition of these pages. 

The above objections are preceded, as the reader ob- 
serves, with that supercilious and superficial presump- 
tion which invariably characterizes certain minds full 
of education, of learning, but in whom Wisdom, the 
internal power of discernment, has had as yet no resur- 
rection. I republish this portion of his strictures, not 
to frame a reply, but simply to show the kind of tree 



98 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

which usually bears the fruit of prejudice and arro- 
gance. 

He says, " many facts have been recognized for a long 
period" which I think will in time be recognized by 
scientific men ; thus implying that my " impressions " 
were a long way behind the scientific information of the 
age. But the truth is, that the facts to which I alluded 
are not at all accepted by the investigators of physical 
science. My principal fact was the identity of the con- 
stituents of water with the constituents of the atmos- 
phere. This is not broached in the scientific world, 
except indirectly by Sir Humphrey Davy, and less dis- 
tinctly by Liebig, the boldest generalizer of the day. 

But he proposes three questions. He thinks the Ley- 
den jars, with their platinum knobs ascending into the 
upper air, will be destroyed inevitably by every thunder- 
storm which may chance to pass. Now let me remark, 
it is a fact in electricity that there are conductors and 
non-conductors, and that the lightning is attracted by 
points of trees, dwellings, etc., but not by round or 
comparatively non-conducting substances. TL^ plati- 
num knob will seldom, if ever, be disturbed by light- 
ning, because it is not attractive when in the shape pro- 
posed ; but would rather repel the negative electricity 
which rolls the clouds together, and produces thct raiev 
of the thunder in the heavens. 



ANSWER TO SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIONS. 99 

The next inconsiderate interrogatory is, whether the 
rain will not be likely to fall again in the marshes which 
I propose to boil dry % To this objection let me reply, 
that my impressions conducted my mind to a conclusion, 
simple in itself, that the wonderful increase of popula- 
tion on the globe would compel man to convert useless 
tracts of land, untillable swamps and barren deserts, 
into yielding a subsistence for the multiplication of the 
human type. And the plan is to construct galvanic 
thermal batteries, for the rapid decomposition of water 
and moisture, in valleys and low lands now inaccessible. 
TThen the water is sufficiently vaporized to allow work- 
ing-men, with spades in their hands and wisdom in their 
heads, to dig and construct large canals or channels for 
the now of water, to draw away the moisture from bog 
and marshy environments, then, though rain will return 
to earth, it will not remain in the localities as before. 
These canals will then subserve commercial ends ; they 
may be used to convey produce and other commodities 
to and from the now inhabitable and tillable districts. 
And on deserts the galvanic batteries may be used to 
augment the formation and fall of rain as already sug- 
gested. 

Another scientific (?) objection is presented by a writer 
in the Tribune, bearing date April 20, 1853. The 
critic says : "The galvanic decomposition of the quantity 



100 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

of water which annually falls on a single acre of land 
in this climate would require the consumption of about 
20,000 tons of zinc ; and there is not enough of zinc, 
nor even of iron, manufactured throughout the world, 
to decompose, in the same manner, the amount of rain 
which falls on a farm of 100 acres. But in the present 
case criticism is not necessary." 

Than this, there surely cannot be a greater mistake 
founded upon misapprehension. The far-famed calcu- 
lation of Dr. Dyonisius Lardner, that a steamship could 
only carry the quantity of coal requisite for a trip to 
England, and could not, therefore, serve the purposes of 
the transportation of goods and passengers, is certainly 
no less a failure of scientific information and decision. 
Let it be understood, however, that I do not propose the 
common galvanic battery for the ends contemplated. 
The p rinciple I simply urged in order to beget faith in 
the practicability of the project ; for I perceive a vastly 
different use of zinc and copper, with another composi- 
tion not now known to scientific men, for the galvanic 
batteries which are adapted to the decomposition of 
water in marshes and stagnant localities. And yet, for 
the limited purposes of the rain -towers, the ordinary 
construction might temporarily serve, and without great 
expense. 

The third question put by the first objector refers to 



I 



ANSWER TO SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIONS. 101 

the difficulty of securing an agreement among the in- 
habitants of airy given place ! This critic must be 
endowed with an extraordinary development of Cau- 
tiousness. The power to "borrow trouble" is surely 
very large and active in his head ; for the objection 
here anticipated is certainly grounded upon no other 
consideration. There will be but little trouble, among 
reasonable people, respecting the question of " the 
greatest good to the greatest number." The reader, 
desiring to be in truth a Harmonial Man, will readily 
reconcile the objections here urged to the wants and 
requirements of humanity. 



PLAGIARISM-CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 



In order to illustrate a few facts in my own history 
as a clairvoyant, I commence by quoting the following 
from the New York Tribune : 



THE RIVAL RAIN-MAKERS. 

Mr. Daniel Vaughan, of Covington, Ky., writes us that he published 
last October a circular (which he encloses) " On the Causes of Rain, 
and the possibility of modifying- them by Art," which he distributed 
among the members of the ' ' American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science," and afterwards inserted in Buchanan's Journal of 
Man for last January. In December last a copy was given by a friend 
to Andrew Jackson Davis, then lecturing in Cincinnati, who promised 
to give it special consideration when next in a clairvoyant state. 
Here we introduce Mr. V. himself, thus continuing : 

"A few days ago I received two numbers of The Hartford Times, 
containing four letters from A. J. Davis, in which he claims my the- 
ory as his own, and pretends to have arrived at a knowledge of it 
during one of his clairvoyant spells. Besides amalgamating my doc- 
trine with his spiritualisms, embellishing them with his sublime jar- 
gon, and committing some notorious blunders in his attempts to alter 
my expressions, he pretends to quote from the writings of Humboldt 
a sentence which he copied, with scarcely any alteration, from my 
circular. I was informed to-day, by my friend Dr. Buchanan, that 
you noticed Mr. Davis' lectures, and promised to publish them in 
your able journal. Should you do so, I think it my duty to request 
that you will publish my Circular ; and should you deem the whole 









PLAGIARISM. —CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 103 

too long for insertion, you may omit the last page. I have been in- 
formed that you receive The Journal of Man. I refer you to another 
article of mine on the Causes of Rain and Storms, published in the 
February number (page 50) ; and this, perhaps, may be found suited 
to the character of your paper. By complying with my request, you 
will stop the progress of delusion, and enable your readers to form a 
proper estimate of ' Spiritualism ' and its votaries. I am your sin- 
cere friend, Daniel Vaugiian." 

We have not contemplated publishing Mr. Davis' Lectures on Rain- 
Making, so that all necessity for inserting Mx. Vaughan's Circular is 
obviated. We do not feel much interest in the matter in its present 
shape ; but, if either of the gentlemen above named will get up a 
good smart thunder-shower to order — say in Westchester County — 
about the time our potatoes most need it next summer, we'll be 
happy to contribute toward the expense, if not too high. * [Ed. 

In accordance with my impressions, I three clays sub- 
sequently wrote a rejoinder to the above, somewhat in 
self-defence — a proceeding to which I am almost wholly 
unaccustomed — giving the following explanatory state- 
ments : 

" Horace Greeley, Esq. — Dear Sir : From an ar- 
ticle in The Tribune of the 25th inst. over the signa- 
ture of Daniel Yaughan, accusing me very frankly of 
plagiarizing from his ' Theory of the Causes of Rain, 
and the Possibility of Modifying them by Art,' I infer 
that we may reasonably look for ' more rain about these 
days,' but hope it will come unaccompanied with bor- 

* See New York Tribune bearing date March 25, 1853. 



104 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

rowed thunder. I have no desire to deprive the gentle- 
man of any thoughts or theories for which lie justly de- 
serves a reputation; but I wish to state a few explana- 
tory facts and singular coincidences connected with the 
above serious accusation. 

"First, it is true that a copy of Mr. Yaughan's cir- 
cular was given to me by a friend in Cincinnati;* 
second, I also subscribed for The Journal of Man, 
through an agent, for one year, commencing with the 
January number, in which Mr. Yaughan's article was 
republished ; f third, the very first subject which I was 
impressed to write upon, after my return to Hartford, 
was ' The Philosophy of Producing and Controlling the 



* This fact I had no recollection of previous to the writing of my 
letters on the Philosophy of Rain ; because a large quantity of papers 
and circulars were from time to time given to me when in Ohio, the 
contents of which I had neither time nor health to examine. But, as 
I remembered to have had a conversation with a Sir. Buckley, of 
Ohio, on the subject of controlling the fall of rain, I resolved to write 
him, and ascertain for a certainty whether he handed to me Mr. 
Vaughan's circular. In his reply he says : " Mr. Yaughan gave me a 
copy of his views, which I gave you, and you put them away among 
your other papers, because you were then engaged in some other sub- 
ject." Thus, as the fact of having received it is clear to my own 
mind, I cheerfully acknowledge it. 

f This fact (of the Journal containing such an article from Mr. 
Vaughan) I became aware of for the first time when I was shown the 
January number of Buchanan's Journal by the junior editor of the 
Hartford Times, after my letters to that paper were all written. 
Thus, again, as this fact is also clear, I acknowledge it. 



PLAGIARISM. — CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 105 

Fall of Rain ; ' fourth, and in my letters to The Times 
on this theme you may discover a general likeness to 
Mr. Vaughan's theory — also some seven coincidences in 
regard to quotation of geographical facts and illustra- 
tions taken from the book of Nature. All on this side of 
the picture is certainly sufficient to fix reasonable sus- 
picion upon me. 

" But please look on the other side also. First, dur- 
ing my trip through Ohio, numerous letters, pamphlets, 
circulars, etc., were handed to me for examination at my 
earliest convenience ; but, on my return home, I found, 
much to my disappointment, that I had left or lost nearly 
all of them — Mr. Yaughan's circular and the January 
number of The Journal of Man with them ! Second, 
I most positively and solemnly declare that, before I 
wrote my letters to The Hartford Times on liain, I 
had never read anything from any author on this sub- 
ject. Third, as to the Theory of Rain, I can furnish 
the evidence to prove that, in the main principle, I was 
two years in advance of Mr. Vaughan, whose circular 
was published last October. Fourth, I can also bring 
documentary evidence to show that it was my conver- 
sation with a friend of Mr. Vaughan, in Cincinnati, 
upon this subject — a statement in general terms to him 
of what I had seen in clairvoyance about i producing 
and controlling the fall of rain' — which reminded 



106 THE HAKMONIAL MAN. 

him of certain somewhat similar speculations by Mr. 
Yaughan. Thus I can prove priority of impression in 
regard to the theory ; and the friend alluded to, in con- 
sequence of this similarity, subsequently brought to me 
the circular for clairvoyant examination. 

" He says I 'pretend to quote from Humboldt a sen- 
tence ' which belongs to him. If any such mistake oc- 
curred, I am sorry ; but I must first see Humboldt's writ- 
ings before I will confess to any misquotation. While 
inditing my impressions, the different views of authors 
on the subject, whatever it is, come before me with great 
vividness, and I occasionally quote from them ; but al- 
ways give them credit for their words, except in four in- 
stances, when the name did not come to me. Mr. 
Yaughan says that if you deem his circular ' too long 
for insertion, you may omit the last page.' This omis- 
sion I cannot consent to, if you publish at all, because 
( the last page ' demonstrates the independence of my 
impressions — the plan for producing rain being to- 
tally different ! Spiritualism, however, will progress 
without any assistance from 

" Yours fraternally, A. J. Davis." 

During the past seven years I have had a vast amount 
of mental experience in the sphere of clairvoyance. If 
I were to consult my feelings, I think my pen would 



PLAGIARISM. CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 107 

never trace a word in self-defence, or ever be arrested 
in its course to record any personal proofs of the relia- 
bility of the condition which I habitually enter. Blame 
and praise are alike useless and uninfluential so far as 
my mind is concerned ; but my impressions now say, 
"Write for others," and I therefore proceed to the 
task. With this object in view, I shall write concern- 
ing myself unhesitatingly, as if I had another person 
under consideration. 

To say that I never read anything on the theory of 
rain previous to the publication of my letters, and to 
signify a willingness to be qualified by the most solemn 
oath to the effect that I had not read Mr. Vaughan's 
circular, can, as I am perfectly aware, have no weight 
with persons who consider me unprincipled enough to 
fabricate a theory by plagiarizing ideas from the al- 
ready published opinions of another. Indeed, such a 
conviction would be to consider me not only as thor- 
oughly unprincipled, but also deficient in the commonest 
kind of common sense. That I should deliberately 
copy from a circular, already made public and well 
known in channels wherein my own works circulate ex- 
tensively, is to suppose an act of short-sightedness and 
folly on my part seldom exceeded by a victim of lunacy 
or imbecility ! 

Mr. Vaughan's charge is unreservedly made ; conse- 



108 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

quently it remains for me to record my defence — not, 
however, to explain away this matter in particular, bnt 
to throw a few explanatory sentences over my past ex- 
perience. "He claims my theory as his own," says the 
correspondent, " besides amalgamating my doctrine with 
his spiritualisms." 

Now, what is " my doctrine," which is alleged to have 
been purloined and published by me as original ? The 
circular in question lies before me, from which I quote : 
" If the temperature be reduced, part of this vapor will 
condense and be deposited as dew." ..." The 
continual union of unequally heated portions of the at- 
mosphere must, indeed, give rise to a condensation of 
this nature on numerous occasions, and be a prolific 
source of rain." Now, if it can be shown prior to Oc- 
tober last, 1852 (when this circular was first published), 
that I have uttered, while in clairvoyance, the identical 
doctrine^ then, of course, so far as this point goes, I am 
entitled to the credit of originality. Mr. Vaughan is 
doubtless laboring under the conviction that his circular 
was the source of my knowledge of rain and its causes. 
In order to disabuse his mind, I will quote from " ISTat. 
Div. Revelations," pp. 285-6, published in 1847: 

" It is a fact altogether overlooked in the researches 
of meteorologists, that the condition of the higher de- 
grees of the imponderable elements determines entirely 



PLAGIARISM. — CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 100 

the temperature of the atmosphere, from its minimum 
to its maximum degree of heat and cold." .... 
" Clouds are the result of the consociation of the parti- 
cles of atmosphere of equal density ; and these becoming 
entirely too dense to continue in the atmosphere, de- 
scend to associate with their former element.. Such is 
the cause of the common phenomenon of rain/ and 
this never would occur if the temperature tvere always 
equal, and the equilibrium of the air remained at all 
times undisturbed." 

Here, then, is the same doctrine which Mr. Ilutton 
and several meteorologists have from time to time pro- 
mulgated, and which is reiterated, with some modifica- 
tions, by the Ohio circular. But what are those modifi- 
cations ? Did I obtain new views from them ? Let us 
see. I have been to the trouble of looking over my 
published volumes, in order to get aj; what I have 
hitherto written on the subject of Rain and the consti- 
tution of the atmosphere ; and I find, much to my grat- 
ification, that I have not, in my articles to the Times, 
put forth any really new or contradictory impressions 
to those received long before Mr. Yaughan's circular 
appeared. He teaches the existence of strata in the at- 
mosphere : " The evaporation of water and the friction 
of the air against the surface of the earth are commonly 
regarded as the principal sources of atmospheric elec- 



110 THE HAKMONIAL MAN. 

tricity ; and, to render the mechanism of nature more 
effective for its development and for confining it to the 
upper regions, an insulator is provided by means of the 
lower stratum of air, which is most free from humid- 
ity." 

Concerning the accumulation of electricity, I quote 
from pages 86, 87, first vol. of Great Harmonia, pub- 
lished in 1850 : " Electricity exists in and through all 
nature, because it is coessential and coeternal with the 
constitution of the universe." . . . " Matter is contin- 
ually in motion. This motion (or friction) changes the 
relations which subsist between particles ; and it is by 
these changes that electricity is generated and evolved" 
. . . " The electricity thus evolved or developed is, 
at first, that gross kind manifesting itself in the clouds, 

in the atmosphere, etc When that volume of 

electricity which was, ten minutes ago, generated in an 
iron or silver mine, reaches the atmosphere, its particles 
are marvellously changed and attenuated / " — that is, it 
then forms what Mr. Yaughan terms the " insulator," 
composed of the lower stratum, comparatively free from 
humidity. The same doctrine is to be found on page 
93, first volume of Harmonia. 

He teaches or implies the doctrine of strata in the 
air, which I also, with considerable likeness of phrase- 
ology, advocate in my letters to the Times, giving him 



PLAGIARISM. — CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. Ill 

the opinion that his " theory " was undoubtedly pla- 
giarized. But to prove that I taught the identical 
theory seven years ago, I will quote from my first work, 
page 296 : 

" It is well here to notice that the particles of atmos- 
phere that are found in the envelope of the earth, as it 
now is, are atoms which have ascended from lower con- 
ditions. And the condition of every earthy formation 
is represented in the atmospheric formation: and it 
will be observed that each of the earthy strata has an 
ethereal or atmospheric stratum which is in direct cor- 
respondence thereunto. And the atmosphere is com- 
posed of as many strata, both as to its general divi- 
sions and its subdivisions, as are found in the earth's 
crust. It is evident from this, that from the first con- 
densation of the granite coating up to the period when 
a new substance was produced, the water and atmos- 
phere must have been correspondingly dense and gross 
in their composition. And the formation of every new 
stratum, which consisted of the ascending particles of 
the lower, must have resulted in a corresponding as- 
cension of the grosser particles of the atmosphere, as 
evolved and developed from the interior elements of the 
earth." 

There is one striking coincidence, namely, that both 
he and I should denominate the lower attenuated stra- 



112 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

turn of air " an Insulator," and that we should particu- 
larly notice the action of trees, high mountains, etc., 
upon the upper regions. But for either to lay claim 
to originality in the latter particular would be to as- 
sault the rights of every intelligent farmer and meteor- 
ologist. The influence of trees, high latitudes, moun- 
tains, lofty elevations of land, upon the clouds and the 
elements controlling the causes and fall of rain, has 
been remarked by hundreds of minds. While I was 
writing my letters on this subject, my impressions came 
frequently freighted with the thoughts of some twenty 
different authors ; among them conspicuously stood 
Humboldt and Hutton, mentioned alike by Mr. Vaughan 
and myself. But, as his circular is now before me, 
I discover that he quotes from Boussingault, which 
I did not, and I quote from an Eastern philosopher, 
which he did not — the ideas being generally identical 
on the influence of trees, etc., as involved in the fall of 
rain. 

When I was shown the identity between his philoso- 
phy of the causes of rain and my own, and that we 
both referred to about seven facts in nature, as illustra- 
tions, in very similar words, I readily saw that many 
persons, wholly unacquainted with the principles of 
clairvoyance, or disbelieving the existence of such a 
power, would say that 1 obtained my impressions from 



PL AGI ARISM. — CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 113 

external reading. Accordingly, remembering a conver- 
sation I had had with Mr. Buckley, before leaving Cin- 
cinnati, I resolved to write him for a statement. I sub- 
join the substance of his reply : 

"Aurora, Ind., March 3, 1853. 

"A. J. Davis.— Dear Sir: Your letter was remitted to me by my 
friends, and I will answer. 

' ' I distinctly remember of your conversation about the ' Philosophy 
of Producing- Rain,' and I also remember of telling you about Daniel 
Vaughan's article being in many particulars identical icith your ideas. 
You were very much surprised to hear that Prof. VSs notions were simi- 
lar to your own.* .... I also remember that you remarked that 
the Pyramids were not built exclusively for producing rain (a hypoth- 
esis suggested by Mr. Vaughan), although they subserved that 
purpose to a great extent ; but that their primary object was to 
worship the gods of Egypt in, etc. And you stated that you had 
possessed the impression for a long time that man would yet 
control and produce storms when needed : perhaps as easily, compar- 
atively, as he controls electricity. I am perfectly satisfied that you 
are entitled to priority of impression, because Prof. V. had not 
given much publicity to his views at the time I mentioned the subject 
to you. . . 

' ' Wishing you health and happiness, 

" I am, dear sir, yours truly, 

" J. G-. Buckley." 

From this letter it is demonstrated that my impres- 
sions had long ago traversed the ground which Mr. 
Vaughan's mind had recently reached by his own 

* The reader should bear in mind that this conversation transpired 
previous to the circular coming into my possession through the subse- 
quent kindness and attention of Dr. Buckley. 



114 THE IIARMONIAL MAN. 

mental workings. I know that the main particulars in 
my articles to The Times have been familiar to my 
mind, and I have conversed abont them, more or less, 
for the last live years — in fact, ever since the " Revela- 
tions '' were published — wherein, as already shown, 
the doctrine which Mr. V. claims as his " theory " may 
be found. " But," says an objector, " you got your im- 
pressions from Buckley's mind." Now, in order to 
prove that I conversed about upper and lower strata in 
the air, about the formation of clouds, about a plan to 
make the rain descend, or otherwise, before I had any 
interview with Mr. B. on this subject, I introduce the 
testimony of a friend at whose house I had the pleasure 
of sojourning while in Cincinnati. I wrote to him for 
a statement of my talk with him, and he very promptly 
returned the following reply : 

"Cincinnati, Feb. 22, 1853. 

" Dear Friend Jackson : — Your favor of the 19th inst. has just 
come to hand. I will answer the main points in your letter, leaving 
the friendly thoughts and sympathies, which ' crowd for utterance,' 
until another time. 

"I well recollect a conversation with you while you were with us 
in Cincinnati, the purport of which was that you had seen* the 
means by which the fall of rain, and (I think) the temperature of the 
atmosphere, might be regulated, so as both to produce rain when 
needed, and to avoid it at other times. We did not go into the 

* Of course I understood you to mean that you had "seen" it 
clairvoyantly, or in your superior condition. 



PLAGIARISM. — CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 1 15 

details of the plan, but you said that it would not involve a very 
great expense, the chief difficulty being in the erection of towers of 
a sufficient height to pierce the stratum of atmosphere in which the 
clouds were formed. I received the impression that some electrical 
conductor (like the telegraph wires) was to be suspended from these 
towers, thus enclosing any given tract of country to be affected. 

" You also thought the experiment might be tried on a small scale, 
to prove its practicability, by artificially producing a certain state of 
the atmosphere in a room. Of this conversation I have no other 
distinct recollection ; but it was previous to a conversation which I 
overheard between yourself and Mr. Buckley, in which the Pyramids 
of the Egyptians were mentioned by him. 

"I can scarcely believe it necessary that you should fortify your 
position, as originator of these ideas, by any appeal to your friends 
who have heard your conversations previous to the appearance of the 
article in the Journal of Man. 

" In the first place, that article (which I have just read for the 
first time) is mostly a collection of facts before known, excepting 
the plan for forming a conductor to penetrate the upper air; and 
this, you say, is an entirely different process from your own. Your 
friends, at least, who have known and been the pleased listeners to 
the many ideas advanced by you on this and kindred topics, will not 
for a moment harbor the thought that you could have borrowed 
aught from any such source. 

• ' Mr. Green informed us that you had written the letters to Tlie 
Times, and we have been since looking with interest for them. 
Please do not omit to have them sent to us. With our best wishes, 
" Yours fraternally, A.O.Moore." 

Concerning t\\epla?ifor causing rain, Mr. Yaughan 
remarks : " From the result of the experiments of Na- 
ture, it is evident that by discharging the electricity in 
the tipper part of our atmosphere, we may deprive rain 
of its injurious effects," etc. Reader, did I obtain my 
ideas from 'his circular, which was first published in 



116 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

October, 1852 1 If 3-011 say " Yes," then I hare but to 
refer you for counter-evidence to the third volume of 
the Harrnonia, page 19, wherein occur these words : 
" Man will yet learn how to create and preserve an equi- 
librium between the soil and atmosphere. He will be 
enabled to instigate, control and direct, the fall of rain 
over such portions of the land as need moisture ; and man 
will elevate much parsimonious soil to the height of rich- 
ness and abundance." But how is this possible ? On the 
same page you may find the answer : " Electricity will 
be the means, under man's direction, of conveying away 
from unhealthy localities the pestilential miasm which 
generates disease among men." 

This is not a world of "originals." The mass of men- 
tality is sympathetically related through all its parts, 
and many minds, independent of each other, arrive at 
analogous conclusions and verbal coincidences, as among 
poets and mechanical inventors. Nevertheless, I know 
that I may justly claim independency of impression, 
and remind Mr. Yaughan that his " theory " might be 
traced to a source other than his own. 

At the conclusion of my fourth letter may be found this 
comprehensive acknowledgment of all the facts quoted 
by me, in my own language, from various authors : " In 
accordance with my impressions received more than 
eighteen months ago, portions of which have been eug- 



PLAGIARISM. — CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 117 

gested by different authors, I have written, and you now 
perceive my conclusions." 

"But," interposes the objector, "you contradict your- 
self. You pretend to know nothing about what you are 
going to write next. You say what the ' plan will be ' 
is no more known to your brain than to the editor. And 
yet it appears you have talked about the theory and 
thepla?i in Cincinnati, before you wrote your articles. 
How can you explain this? 

This contradiction, so called, is one which I think 
will ever be a result of my mental experience. I fear 
to prolong my explanations, lest I fatigue the reader's 
mind. But this point demands a few remarks. 

In the first place, it is my mental habit never to com- 
pose myself to enter the Superior Condition with the 
least prepossession for or against anything which I then 
attempt to investigate. Any bias of thought or affec- 
tion militates powerfully against the acquisition of clear 
and truthful impressions. If I converse in Cincinnati, 
or anywhere else, respecting my impressions on controll- 
ing Rain hitherto received, the ideas then broached are 
never allowed to act upon my mind when I investigate 
that subject again. If I state any given proposition, 
my psychological habit is, not to let that proposition 
operate upon my mind when next I enter the clairvoyant 
condition. I live only in the Present. I am not mort- 



118 THE HAKMONIAL MAN. 

gaged to the Past in any respect. Every time I pass 
into the interior state I get new and more enlarged 
views of everything I investigate. I never permit my- 
self to premeditate or prearrange my writing or my 
thoughts. When I know that I am fully " in the 
spirit," or clairvoyance, my habit is to write irrespective 
of anything I ever before wrote or expressed, regardless 
alike of blame or praise — trammelling my mind with 
no love of consistency, with no desire for an agreement 
with foregone conclusions. 

In the second place, by pursuing this plan my spirit 
is always free to assert, in truth, that I never know 
what is coming next. "What 1 may have said yesterday 
enters not into my investigations to-day, by any action 
of my own will; but if I seldom contradict myself, 
either in what I have hitherto uttered or written, the 
fact is referable only to the uniform and veritable im- 
pressions which the great interior world imparts to my 
awakened sensibilities. I write thus much to meet 
the charge of " contradicting myself ; " more especially 
henceforth to clear the track, so that I can make any 
number of verbal contradictions hereafter, without 
being put to the trouble of explaining the trivial 
causes. Recently I met with a paragraph, written by 
E. W. Emerson, which, taken altogether, states my 
mental habits most perfectly, with the understanding 






PLAGIAEISM. — CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 119 

that I do not apply the closing sentence to myself. 
After alluding to non-conformity as opposing free 
speech, he adds : 

" The other terror that scares us from self -trust is our consistency — 
a reverence for our past act or word, because the eyes of others have 
no other data for computing' our orbit than our past acts, and we are 
loath to disappoint them. 

11 But why should you keep your head over your shoulders ? Why 
drag about this corpse of your memory, lest you contradict some- 
what you have stated in this or that public place ? Suppose you 
should contradict yourself, what then ? It seems to be a rule of wis- 
dom never to rely on your memory alone, scarcely even in acts of 
pure memory, but to bring the past for judgment into the thousand- 
eyed presents, and live ever in a new day. In your metaphysics, 
you have denied personality to the Deity ; yet, when the devout mo- 
tions of the soul come, yield to thern heart and life, though they 
should clothe God with shape and color. Leave your theory, as 
Joseph did his coat in the house of the harlot, and flee. 

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by 
little statesmen, and philosophers, and divines. With consistency a 
great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern him- 
self with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now, in 
hard words : and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks, in hard 
words again, though it contradict everything you said to-day. Ah ! 
so you shall be sure to be misunderstood ! Is it so bad, then, to be 
misunderstood ? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and 
Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and 
every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be 
misunderstood. " 



Mr. Yaughan's jplaM for modifying the causes of 
Rain by art is stated in his circular as follows : " A 
temporary communication may be most readily formed 



120 THE HAHMONIAL MAN. 

by projecting a considerable body of water into the 
atmosphere by the means of the expansive force of 
condensed air, or of carbonic acid subjected to a pres- 
sure somewhat less than is required for its liquefac- 
tion." He then proceeds to give his plan, with general 
specifications. The tube for projecting the water on 
high should be in "the form of the letter U, or of a 
semicircle." One end of this tube is to be ''perma- 
nently closed ; " the other end should be " stopped air- 
tight by means of a large valve which presses against 
its mouth, and turns on an axle when opening. . . . 
At a short distance below this valve, let the tube com- 
municate with a strong vessel, in which carbonic acid is 
prepared," etc. After describing the modus operandi 
with a suggestive spirit, he says : " From a cast-iron 
tube 200 feet long, 20 inches in diameter, and 2 inches 
thick, a cylindrical column of water thirty feet long 
may be in this manner launched into the air, with a 
velocity of over TOO feet a second ; and if not prevented 
by the air, it should reach an elevation of nearly 8,000 
feet." 

These words I quote from his circular before me, and 
the reader may for himself judge whether or not there 
is any likeness whatever between Mr. Vaughan's plan 
for controlling rain and mine ! I confess that I would 
not like to be the author of his suggestions on this 






PLAGIARISM. — CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 121 

head. I am thus particular, not, as already remarked, 
for my own reputation or defence, but to lay the facts 
impartially before the reader's judgment. 

I have alluded to seven coincidences in regard to 
quotations of geographical facts. Let us examine them, 
for upon these is predicated the boldest charge of pla- 
giarism. To demonstrate that my mind, while writing 
the letters, was not restricted to his authorities and 
illustrations, I will recapitulate my references, and will 
italicize those in which, with considerable likeness of 
phraseology, we agree : 

To an Eastern philosopher (whose name I could not 
obtain), Alex. Humboldt; Dr. James Hutton ; the 
countries of Peru and the Cordilleras ; the waters of 
the Amazon, or the Gulf Stream foioing into the At- 
lantic ; Laroach and Crusell ; an individual river in 
South America contributing more than all other rivers 
in that country to the ocean;* the rivers in Africa 
flowing from mountains 'under the Equator ; the 
rivers of California, and of countries still more moun- 
tainous ; Arabian Plains; Australia; fogs of Hew- 
part ; Cape Horn ; the rochy coasts of Norway ; the 
Archipelago of Chronos ; the entire account of the 
meteorology of Mexico ; the State of Ohio ; the terri- 

* This reference is couched in nearly Mr. Vaughans language ; bat, 
as the reader will remember, is credited as from Baron Humboldt. 
6 



122 THE HAKMONIAL MAN. 

tories of Venezuela ; the meteorology of Camana ; the 
temperature, etc., of the southern part of Orinoco; 
Aurora Borealis ; different towns in Connecticut ; Sir 
Humphrey Davy ; and the experiment of Archimedes. 
But one thing more is worthy of notice ; that is, each 
allude to high latitudes, where the region of the clouds 
has little elevation, being characterized by fogs and 
mists, but not by excessive rains. 

Now the facts are stated. I have shown that the 
principles and much of the minutice of his " doctrine " 
are to be found in my first work; that the idea of an 
Insulator is strongly intimated in my second book ; tiiat 
the "theory "of electricity, in connection with the 
clouds, was long ago presented to my mind ; that the 
controlling of rain by means of electricity was made 
known to me in clairvoyance more than eighteen 
months ago ; that I conversed about the theory and 
plan before I talked with Mr. Buckley respecting this 
matter ; that it was my conversation with this gentle- 
man which reminded him of what Mr. Vaughan had 
written ; that all this occurred before I had any ex- 
ternal access to the circular ; that my plan is totally 
dissimilar to his ; that I refer to upwards of thirty 
chemical and other facts to which not even the least 
hint is given in the circular ; and, lastly, that the entire 
contents of that paper, if copied, would not make more 



PLAGIARISM. — CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 123 

than one of my letters. Whence came the extra facts 
and matter? Should an effect not be proportionate 
to its cause ? Does Mr. Y. think the geographical facts 
of the river Amazon, the rivers of South America, 
African rivers, the rains on the coasts of Norway, the 
Archipelago of Chronos, etc., are original facts with 
him? Surely, twenty different travellers and authors 
have alluded to these facts in similar phraseology, and 
Humboldt in particular. 

Before I proceed to present " for others " a few 
illustrations of personal clairvoyance, I will state what 
I understand to be the explanation of the foregoing 
coincidences. While writing, I can always distinguish 
between' the thoughts of different authors, and separate 
them, perfectly, from the impressions flowing in conse- 
quence of the nearness, at the time, of my interior sen- 
sibilities to the interior world of Intelligence. In this 
particular case my mind, without any premeditations 
or prepossessions of its own, was directed to the exami- 
nation of the philosophy of the formation of clouds, 
how to control them, etc., and I wrote word after word, 
as each were awakened in my mind by the inflowing 
impressions. And the coincidences arose from the fact 
that Mr. Y. had himself reasoned out a theory (pre- 
viously known to me), and referred to the most promi- 
nent geographical natural illustrations in order to ex- 



124 THE HAJRMONIAL MAN. 

plain his thoughts ; and I, with the same doctrine of 
storms before me, also referred to the identical facts 
(and to many more), because that they were so mani- 
festly demonstrative of the philosophy. This statement 
I make on the score of my past experience, which will 
bear any strength of assertion, as I will now proceed to 
show. 

What I now design to show is the fact that, while in 
the Superior Condition, there is nothing to hinder the 
mind from seeing into and reporting accurately the con- 
tents of books, etc., whether the works are present or 
not.* The ordinary theory of clairvoyance, viz., that 
the faculty is a deception — an hypothesis still enter- 
tained by those scientific and learned minds who have 
the misfortune not to be better enlightened — implies 
that a book, from which a clairvoyant quotes, must of 
necessity be within the scope of his physical eyes. Dur- 
ing the past few years my mind has been not a little 
amused with the editorial and other criticisms which 
have asserted that I must have read this and that book, 
in order to procure certain .thoughts exhibited in the 

* The philosophy of this apparently preternatural endowment of 
mind will be amply explained in the author's Sequel to the ' ' Philos- 
ophy of Spiritual Intercourse," to be issued in a few days. Partridge 
& Brittan, publishers, New York. This Sequel will contain several 
pictorial illustrations, and is considered a full explanation of modern 
mysteries. 



PLAGIARISM. — CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 125 

Lectures. Certain coincidences between the " Yestigcs 
of Creation" and my impressions of the development 
of geology — certain similitudes of thought and expres- 
sion between the " Writings of Sweclenborg " and my 
own, on several theological points — have led some per- 
sons very naturally to the most external and thoughtless 
solution of clairvoyance. Now, the truth is, the pecu- 
liar labor — always inexpressibly pleasurable — which I 
feel interiorly called upon to perform, is totally incon- 
sistent with the perusal of works of different authors. 
The desire to read is completely swept from my mind 
by the constant influx of thoughts through the interior. 
But now, I confess, when I quote from authors before 
seeing their works, a desire springs up — a species of 
curiosity, with a wish to have external corroborative 
testimony — to examine the references for myself ; and 
I invariably find my quotations correct. And yet I de- 
sire it always understood that I lay no claim to infallibil- 
ity of perception. Because it is possible, where,impres- 
sions of several authors flow in at the same moment,* 
that I might give the wrong author credit of certain 
facts and quotations. A case of this description, how- 

* For instance : while writing on the theory of storms, the thoughts 
of various authors came before me whenever there teas a coincidence 
between my impressions and their own external observations, — Hut- 
ton, Humboldt, Lewy, Gay-Lussac, Dumas, Murry, Peltier, Dove, 
Lafeldt, Strabo, and others, — whose books I have never read. 



126 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

ever, has never come to my knowledge. There is much 
of the highest interest in this department of my expe- 
rience ; but I cannot now stop to record it. And I 
am persuaded that the reader will bear with me 
in saying what I have, especially when I accompany it 
with a partial promise never again to occupy my pages 
with sketches of merely personal experiences to remove 
misapprehensions. 

In order to show that the spiritual eye can read 
manuscript, without any outward contact, I introduce 
the following attestation : 

"And what is remarkable, although I had my manuscripts with 
me, from which I wished to propose certain queries relative to the 
correctness of my interpretation, I found I had no need to refer to it, 
as he was evidently, from his replies, cognizant of its entire scope 
from beginning to end, though all the time closely bandaged, and 
unable to read a word by the outward eye. This will appear incred- 
ible, but it is strictly true. I had no occasion to refer to a single 
sentence in my papers ; for it was evident that he was in possession 
of the whole, though he had not seen a line of what I had written, 
nor had previously known of the fact of my writing at all." * 

From an article originally published in the New 
York Tribune, by the author of the above extract, the 
reader may glean still more evidence that, when certain 
coincidences occur in my lectures or works, it does not 
necessarily follow that my outward senses have had 

* Extracted from an interesting work, entitled " Mesmer and Swed- 
enborg," p. 179, by Prof. George Bush. 






TLAGIAKISM. CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 127 

physical contact with the books in which these coinci- 
dences exist : 

"I confess myself to have taken a deep interest in this development 
from the outset, principally from its obvious relations with the 
psychological disclosures of Swedenborg, apart from which I am con- 
fident it can never be explained, but in connection with which the 
solution is easy and obvious. The modus of this it is not my purpose 
at present to dwell upon ; whoever forms an acquaintance with Swe- 
denborg, will soon find himself on the track of solving not only this, 
but all other psychological problems. My object is to advert to a 
particular passage in the Lectures, and examine its bearings upon 
the question of the source from which the information given by the 
so-called ' Clairvoyant ' was derived. On p. 587 h.e has entered into 
a detailed and very accurate analysis of one of Swedenborg's scientific 
works, entitled ' The Economy of the Animal Kingdom,' in 2 vols. 
8vo. He gives a minute account of the scope of each volume ; and 
he could not well have been more correct, had the volumes been open 
before him for the express purpose of exhibiting a summary view of 
their contents. The Lecture containing this passage I heard read 
shortly after its delivery. It struck me as very remarkable, as the 
work in question had but recently arrived in this country ; and I was 
confident, from various reasons, that neither Mr. Davis nor his asso- 
ciates could have seen it. I put several interrogatories on this head, 
and received the most positive assurance that they had not only 
never seen it, but had never even heard of it. And, as a proof of 
this, on the part of the scribe, he remarked that he had noted 
the word ' Economy ' as probably a mistake, as he had heard of a 
work of Swedenborg's, entitled simply ' The Animal Kingdom,' 
which was translated and published in English a year or two before, 
though he had never seen it. Yet this he supposed to be meant. 

" My acquaintance with those gentlemen was sufficient to satisfy 
me that their disclaimer on this score was entitled to implicit belief ; 
but, as I was aware that this would not be enough to satisfy others, 
I at once determined to institute an inquiry the result of which 
should put the matter beyond all cavil. I saw clearly that if it 
could be shown that this young man had given a correct account of a 



128 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

work which neither he nor his associates had ever seen or heard of, 
it must be a strong- point gained toward confirming the truth of his 
general claim to preternatural insight, for the establishment of which 
I was indeed anxious, but yet as subordinate to a still higher 
interest. 

' ' I accordingly wrote to Mr. 0. Clapp, bookseller in Boston, whom I 
knew to be the only person in this country who imported Sweden- 
borg's scientific works from England. They are there published, not 
by individual enterprise, but by an Association, from whom all the 
copies ordered from this country are consigned exclusively to Mr. C. 
I requested him to give me from his books, as far as possible, a 
detailed account of the disposal of every copy he had sold, as my ob- 
ject was to ascertain if any of them could be traced to a point where 
it would be likely to fall into the hands of Mr. Davis or his compan- 
ions. Mr. C. immediately replied, informing me of the number of 
copies he had imported, which was not large, as the book is costly, 
and the demand limited mostly to Swedenborg's adherents, and also 
of the direction which nearly every one had taken. Of these there 
were, in all, nine copies sent to this city to Mr. John Allen, of which 
all but three or four were disposed of to purchasers abroad. Of those 
that remained in the city, every one can be traced to individuals who 
will at once testify that they have never been purchased, borrowed, 
nor consulted, by Mr. Davis or his friends. I have made diligent 
inquiry on this head, and am perfectly satisfied that it is morally im- 
possible that either of these gentlemen should have had access to any 
one of the copies owned in New York. 

" Still, I am perfectly aware that this statement will not, of itself, 
avail to overcome the rooted incredulity, that opposes itself to such 
a demand upon faith. I now propose, therefore, to put this matter 
to a much more summary test, by applying a magnet of the highest 
potency in drawing out truth, as well as other things, from all 
weaker affinities. I am authorized to make a bond-fide offer of $500 
to any person who will produce a single iota of evidence, properly 
substantiated, that the work in question was ever seen, heard of, 
consulted or in any way employed, by either of the gentlemen above 
mentioned, up to the time of the delivery of said lecture by A. J 
Davis. I simply demand that such evidence shall be clearly and un»\ 



PLAGIARISM. — CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 120 

quivocally made out ; and I pledge myself, upon the truth of an 
honest man, that the above sum shall be punctually paid over, in the 
presence of witnesses, to the person who, on the condition specified, 
shall come forward and claim it. 

1 ' I can conceive nothing more fair or decisive than this proposition. 
If this book has been used for the purpose, it must have been obtained 
of somebody. It is not easily conceivable that such an one, if knowing 
to the fact, should have any motive for withholding it sufficient to 
counterbalance the inducement held out in the present offer to divulge 
it. A refusal to impart the information sought, by any one who pos- 
sesses it, can scarcely be anticipated, except upon the ground of com- 
plicity in a grand scheme of imposture, which has been entered into 
by a knot of unprincipled men, with the view to palm upon the pub- 
lic a work charged as being of a ' directly undisguisedly infidel char- 
acter.' But who are these men ? Who can be named as possessing a 
copy of Swedenborg's work that would be likely to lend either it or 
himself to such a contemptible piece of chicanery ? Could such a 
man have any motive for this that would not be apt to yield to the 
certainty of pocketing the proffered reward ? Has he more than five 
hundred dollars' worth of interest in bolstering up a pitiable delusion, 
which will be sure to be detected in the end, and cover with infamy 
the heads of all concerned ? For myself, I am satisfied that there is 
not a copy of the ' Economy of the Animal Kingdom ' in the city but 
is in the hands of those who have the profoundest respect for Swe- 
denborg as a philosopher and a moralist ; and no such man could be, 
knowingly, an accomplice in a scheme of pretended 'revelation,' the 
scope of a large portion of which is directly contrary to Swedenborg's 
teachings. What supposition more absurd ? If it be said that such 
an one might have come into the junto without knowing precisely 
what would be the issue, or what use would be made of his Sweden- 
borgian contribution, the fact is now palpable ; he is undeceived, and 
what should prevent him from exposing the outrageous fraud, especi- 
ally when he can spread the plaster of a $500 note over the sore of 
his chagrin ? 

" The truth is, this whole supposition is incredible to the last de- 
gree. There is not a person in the community, who owns a copy of 
Swedenborg's ' Economy,' that could think for a moment of prostitut- 



130 THE HAKMONIAL MAN. 

ing the book or himself to such a despicable fabrication ; and I repeat, 
that the book is not to be found except with those who entertain 
sentiments in regard to this great and good man that would utterly 
preclude connivance at any clandestine procedure of the kind sup- 
posed. Should the offer now made — and which is made in the most 
positive good faith — fail to elicit any response contradictory to the as- 
sumption of the book, I would submit to every candid mind whether 
there does not arise from this source a powerful confirmation of its gen- 
eral claims. I do not say that such, considered in itself, is absolutely 
decisive. But it must surely be granted that it affords a strong proof 
of a collateral kind. The numerical count of probabilities is vastly 
on the side of the theory that the work in question has not been seen, 
if a generous premium fails of bringing to light the least evidence to 
the contrary ; and yet, if the assumption stands good, what an as- 
tounding power is here developed ! What cannot a mind bring forth, 
which is thus enabled to declare the contents of books never read or 
seen! 

" On the whole, then, I venture the assertion that but one conclu- 
sion can finally be rested in in regard to the circumstance I am now 
considering. — Young Davis lias correctly analyzed and characterized a 
work which he had never read nor lieard of. As this is directly claimed 
to be the fact, so it is, all things weighed, the solution which is at- 
tended with the fewest difficulties. No other than presumptive evi- 
dence can be adduced against it, nor will any other be attempted." * 

In concluding this brief sketch of my mental habits, 
I may add that any amount of external testimony can 
be of no possible consequence to the successful accom- 
plishment of the glorious work which I see before me 
to do. There are prison-doors to unfasten; chains to 
knock off ; slavery to be annihilated ; intemperance to 

* See the New York Tribune of June, 1847, and still other testi- 
mony published in that year. 



PLAGIARISM. CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 131 

banish; injustice to overcome with good; error to up- 
root and destroy ; bigotry to be buried ; and there is 
health to spread abroad over the earth; and freedom to 
secure ; and goodness to disseminate ; and universal jus- 
tice to distribute throughout all the earth. And so, 
with all this work before me, in which the reader should 
heartily join, it will not do for me or my friends to 
turn aside to meet the pugnacious scepticism which is 
created by such a marvellous train of incidents as nec- 
essarily grow out of the new age with its glorious illum- 
inations. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF WEARING THE BEARD AND 
MUSTACHIOS. 



The miscellaneous topics and objects to which this 
publication is devoted — being political, ecclesiastical, 
scientific, explanatory, with special reference to the 
philosophy of becoming truly a Harmonial Man — render 
the subject now presented quite apropos and legitimate. 
" The Philosophy of Wearing the Beard " was written 
several months since, and appeared originally in The 
Hartford Times. This will account for the familiarity 
of style, being adapted to the columns of a daily paper, 
which is destined almost invariably to meet with a super- 
ficial perusal. 

There is a wide-spread prejudice against an individual 
who obeys the laws of nature so particularly as to allow 
his beard to grow, unmolested and unshorn, as his organi- 
zation suggests and unquestionably demands. It requires 
no little independence in a man to violate an established 
custom of society, especially when, by pursuing such a 
course, so antagonistic, he brings down upon himself and 
companions the unmitigated ridicule of all time-serviug 
and custom-worshipping minds. Our motto is, "Let 



THE PHILOSOrilY OF WEARING THE BEARD. 133 

Nature be true," though the whole world be wrong, and 
opposed to her peaceful ways and harmonious reveal- 
nients. " Be just, and fear not." 

Six weeks ago I -made what I consider to be a new 
discovery. It refers especially to the health, comfort 
and convenience of the male ; and, in order to be gen- 
erally adopted, requires the approbative taste of the fe- 
male. However, be this as it may, I respectfully submit 
the matter to the consideration of many and estimable 
readers, and consent to lend an open ear to the calm 
pronunciation of any number of oppositional reasons. 

I begin by affirming the perfect righteousness of Na- 
ture's Laws, on the ground that they originated in the 
very bosom of Holiness itself ; and that the constitution 
of Nature is equally perfect — full of means adapted to 
ends, full of wise designs and harmonious proportions, 
and universally actuated and controlled by the omnipo- 
tent principles of Cause and Effect. In the develop- 
ments and accomplishments of the grand scheme of 
creation there are no mere chance productions, though 
there are many incidentalisms connected with the gen- 
eral system of creation ; such, for example, as the growth 
of warts on the human body, or fungous excrescences 
visible on the surface of trees. The reason why I term 
these things incidentalisms is this : they do not uniformly 



134 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

appear on these bodies, which would not be the case, if 
they were essential in any manner to the proper devel- 
opment of the human organism, or to that of trees ; 
while, on the other hand, those things which are essential 
to the welfare of these structural creations are uniformly 
visible upon or connected with them. 

Now, Mr. Editor, among the many invariable charac- 
teristics of the human form is the growth of hair npon 
the face and head. Of course this peculiarity is more 
or less prominent with different temperaments and races 
of men. But it matters not how parsimonious or abund- 
ant the capillary developments of the face and head 
may be, it is nevertheless an evident ordination of the 
righteous Author of Nature's laws, that those develop- 
ments should remain, harmoniously and neatly culti- 
vated, on the bosom of their native soil. 

Believing so, I think it to be a sin against light and 
knowledge to persist in perpetuating the barberous cus- 
tom of shaving either the head or the face. It is an 
evident transgression of nature's laws ; and I dare not 
question the wisdom and righteousness of these laws, 
because I believe in the perfect omniscience and holi- 
ness of the Eternal Mind. 

But, Mr. Editor, this is not the new discovery to which I 
alluded. For the conviction has very probably come home 
to your own mind, especially while instituting or under- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF WEAEING- THE BEAED. 135 

going the shaving process, that there is more of barbar- 
ism than civilization in the deed. My discovery refers 
particularly to the ends which the beard and hair sub- 
serve in the human economy. That the capillaceous 
(or hairy) developments on the human body are the al- 
most universal characteristics of the organism, is a very 
plain fact ; and that the Creator had some wise design in 
causing it to grow on various portions of the Jbody, is 
also a plain matter of probability. But to be able to 
read this wise design aright, and thus to strengthen faith 
with knowledge, is to convert taste into duty, and suppo- 
sition into principle. And he who can see the reason 
why God has placed the beard on the face and the hair 
on the head, is no longer in a state to consult the rules 
of capricious custom, or to ask the public to sanction 
this or that ; because his mind is conscientiously sus- 
tained by knowledge, and he forthwith sees his duty as 
inseparably connected with a righteous principle. If I 
see satisfactory reasons for the existence and growth of 
hair on the human body, and also that I have been con- 
stantly violating the will of Deity b} r shaving off from 
my face what he designed should appear and remain 
upon it, then I feel myself at liberty to consult neither 
taste nor popular custom, but to obey His will to the full 
extent of the knowledge in my possession. My position, 
Mr. Editor, is very simple. I design, henceforth, to 



136 THE HAKMONIAL MAN. 

wear the mustache and beard, as also the hair which 
grows on the head, upon this ground, that I am acting 
in harmony with the righteous ordination of Nature, — 
therefore acting from principle. 

But let us come to the point. The question is, Why 
has Deity placed the hair on the head and beard on the 
face? Upon examination (conducted in accordance 
with SLU^nterior method for which I am known), I dis- 
covered that hair is simply the continuation of a system 
of capillary nerves and vessels ; that is to say, it was a 
wise design on the part of the Creator to provide certain 
portions of the human economy with a capillaceous sub- 
stance which should subserve the purpose of not only 
protecting the parts from a too sudden contact with the 
external atmosphere, but also to conduct away from 
those parts the superabundant ether or volatile gases 
which accumulate in them. The human body is' won- 
derful, especially on the ground that there is such a har- 
monious combination of beauty, strength, and utility — 
all concentrated and condensed into the smallest possi- 
ble compass, with a very fair material and much light- 
ness. Now I perceive that the nervous systems, which 
are indispensable to certain functions in the head, and 
likewise to certain functions in the eyes and throat, are 
constructed so exquisitely line and delicate that, unless 
they have something more than the mere cuticle or skin 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF WEARING THE EEAED. 137 

of the body to protect tliem, they would soon lose much 
of their delicacy, and, at the same time, do much to- 
wards deranging the equilibrium of the parts. There- 
fore, to prevent all this disorder, the Deity has given to 
these nervous systems the tendency to create their own 
protection. Hence the capillaceous systems of nerves 
in the head ultimate themselves in hair on the external 
surface ; those nerves which commence in # the eyes 
ramify downward into the upper lip, and there give rise 
to what is commonly termed the mustache ; and those 
nerves which commence in the neck, and originate from 
four ganglionic centres situated on either side of the 
bronchial organism, proceed outwardly, and ramify ex- 
ternally into what is generally termed the beard. 

Every hair is an extended nervous fibre ; and it de- 
pends very much upon the temperament of an individ- 
ual whether the hair is abundant ; but its growth is the 
true rule of its utility. The arterial temperament pos- 
sesses these nervous systems in great abundance ; hence 
a luxurious growth of hair. And I find that those 
nerves which originate in the surrounding coating of 
the eye, and which ramify, in the male organism, in the 
mustache on the upper lip, run under the muscles of the 
cheeks in the female, and have much to do in controll- 
ing the phenomena of hlushing. You will acknowledge, 
I suppose, Mr. Editor, the truth of the saying that ladies 



138 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

are more capable of blushing than gentlemen ; for the 
former possess, deeply buried in the muscles of the 
cheek, the same capillaceous nervous system which, in 
the latter, has iiltimated itself in the mustache. Be- 
sides this, I find that these nerves which in the male 
give rise to the beard upon the angles of the face and 
underneath the chin, run downward in the female, and 
ultimate themselves into mammce organization, there 
controlling the lacteous secretions. Hence the female 
needs no beard. But the male does need it ; therefore 
he possesses it, and must be no transgressor of Nature's 
laws. 

But let us ask what injury does it do the organism to 
shave the mustache and beard from off the face ? I re- 
ply that, in accordance with the principles of physiol- 
ogy, the sclerotic (or hard) coating of the eye, as also its 
external or serous membrane, are protected and saved 
from dryness, weakness and irritation, by allowing the 
hair to remain upon the upper lip. Both the diseases 
known as ophthalmia and amaurosis are traceable, in 
many cases, not to the exposure of the eyes, but to the 
exposure of the nerves of the upper lip to the changes 
and vicissitudes of the atmosphere. Men are more sub- 
ject to these complaints than women. This fact is very 
significant! Furthermore, many diseases of the head, 
throat and lungs, are prevented by wearing the beard. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF WEARING TOE BEARD. 139 

The shaving away of this protection is frequently the 
cause of bronchitis, chronic catarrhs, and pulmonary 
irritation. It was once — indeed, it is now — esteemed 
as very improper for clergymen and similar officials to 
wear the hair on the face which God has caused to grow 
there. Therefore they shave constantly, and wear 
smooth faces ; but what is the consequence ? Why, 
they are all affected, more or less, with catarrhs, bronch- 
ial disorders, and weak, dry, husky voices. These things 
admonish them to cease violating the laws of health and 
nature ; but custom bears rule, and the people love to 
have it so ! 

Xow, Mr. Editor, you will readily understand that I 
believe it to be every man's duty to obey the laws of 
nature, just as faithfully in the wearing of the mustache 
and beard, as in obeying any other known physiological 
law of his being. As fast as we know what Truth is, 
we should embrace it and obey its dictations. He who 
desires to be righteous must endeavor to do right in all 
things. It may be considered just as wrong to cut and 
dress the hair as to shave it off ; but this is a mistake. 
The design of the hair is to protect the nerves of the 
head, eyes, and throat. This object may be accom- 
plished, and yet the individual should cultivate rules of 
taste, propriety and cleanliness, in the style of trimming 
and manner of weariuo- all the hair with which nature 



140 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

lias adorned his organism. No matter whether you have 
little or much, nor whether it be black, red, white or 
intermixed, it is still beautiful and proper, for God lives 
in Nature. The system of shaving is very barberons. 
It originated in Rome when the barbarians invaded the 
Empire ; it is a perpetuated and time-sanctified strata- 
gem, which a few monks originated ; and, without 
designing the least disrespect to the dignitaries of the 
shaving profession, I cannot but regard the custom as a 
useless and preeminently barbarous one, calculated to 
produce disease, and to render fashionable a constant 
violation of the plainest principles of physiology. 



It seems to me that something more remains to be 
said on the subject. Evidently, at first sight, the matter 
under consideration does not appear to require any seri- 
ous thought, inasmuch as by the public generally it is 
treated as mere matter of taste, wholly unconnected 
with any physiological principle of health or moral con- 
sideration. But, upon more sober reflection, you will 
readily perceive how intimately associated these capil 
laceous productions of the organism are with a principle 
of use, or with a law of health and comfort, which be- 
longs to the human physical economy ; hence, with 
morality. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF WEAEING THE BEAED. 141 

Therefore, in my own mind, I cannot place the wear- 
ing of the beard on the ground of mere taste, nor yet of 
comfort ]i or convenience, but wholly upon a natural and 
consequently righteous principle of physiology, which 
every reasonable man can very easily recognize. But, 
at first, I confess to a repugnance of taste on my own 
part to the wearing of the beard and mustache, until I 
saw, with nry own understanding,' the reason why the 
Creator had given to the human form the peculiarities 
in question. Whiskers were made in the constitution of 
Nature, but razors were not. The same thing may be 
said of man} 7 other human inventions ; in fact, I think 
we are not half so enlightened upon many points of life 
as we shall be ; but, until the light comes, we may prac- 
tise faithfully what we do know. Now, I feel fully per- 
suaded that I know the reasons why the human form is~ 
adorned with the capillary nervous systems which give 
rise to the formation and growth of hair on the external 
surface ; and, being thus persuaded, how can I act, in 
order to be consistent, but in concord with the design 
which I feel the Creator had in view when laying the 
foundations of the universe ? 

I am perfectly aware, Mr. Editor, that the disciples 
of oriental authorities will find evidence that the beard 
was removed from the faces of certain holy men, even 
in the days of Moses. But the principles of physiology 



142 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

are more ancient than these authorities, and I am more 
certain that the former partakes largely of that higher 
ordination which renders even a blade of grass a holy 
fact in creation. 

The love of beauty in the human mind may be sup- 
posed to set up a strong opposition to the anti-shaving 
creed. This I deem no authority ; for love must depend 
upon wisdom for direction and culture. Besides this, 
we have no standard of beauty by which to determine 
what is and what is not beautiful and natural for man. 
The Chinese, for example, consider it exceedingly vul- 
gar and plebeian to have large or natural-sized and full- 
shaped feet; the hair must also be exceedingly long 
and braided, hanging like a twisted rope down the 
back. And so, in all countries and among all races of 
men, you will find the general or conventional standard 
of beauty to be very different, and frequently antagon- 
istic. Hence the question of beauty,^ in wearing the 
beard and mustache, is nothing, after all, but an 
uneducated, or rather unwise taste, which a goodly sup- 
ply of judgment will very readily change into a har- 
monious acquiescence with the anti-barbarian philos- 
ophy. 

But there is a prejudice to the upper-lip beard, which 
I also confess to have entertained prior to the new 
discovery ; indeed, I may say that I am not yet wholly 






THE PHILOSOPHY OF WEARING THE BEAED. 143 

weaned from it, because I feel it to be well founded. 
That is, the disagreeable associations connected with 
those who have and do still (from a kind of empty and 
perhaps spurious taste) cultivate the beard and the 
mustache in a manner quite obnoxious to the feelings 
of sedate and retiring individuals. The foppish and 
superficial mind is very apt to encourage the fantastic 
display of whiskers — mustachios, long, curled, and 
twisted into unpleasant relations with the general form 
of the features, giving the beholder an idea of affecta- 
tion personified, and offensively intruded upon reserved 
and fastidious minds. The Broadway dandy is quite 
an objectionable creature in the estimation of our own 
modest and conservative countrymen. When we see 
one of those peculiar productions of superficial society, 
we are sure to see a head of exquisitely curled hair, 
glistening with a plentiful supply of " bear's oil," and 
" bearded like a pard," with a fantastically arranged 
mustachio, resembling the smellers of a Malta mouser, 
with an eye-glass dangling from his neck ; and, when 
he converses, we are almost certain to hear the recogni- 
zable intonation of a studied affectation, or of a fawning 
style of pronunciation, which is almost invariably sure 
to remind us of that bold and upper-ten-dom resolution : 
" Phifty-Plwiir Phorty, or Phight ! " This is a class 
of artificial and superficial beings that have (not from 



144: THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

any love of truth, or from airy desire to obey a purely 
physiological law of human nature) worn # the whiskers 
and mustachios ; but wholly, I think, from a desire to 
attract attention, and be the subject of notoriety and of 
drawing-room discussion. 

Now, Mr. Editor, you will not allow this fact to deter 
you, I trust, from the adoption of a principle so plain in 
the catalogue of rules which pertain to comfort and 
longevity. The foppish class in question — usually con- 
fined to the French, Spanish, and their American imi- 
tators — wear clothing, hats, etc., just as the most sanc- 
timonious inhabitant does ; yet you never think of 
confounding the two characters. On the well-established 
principle, then, that a man is forever to be recognized 
in his deeds and deportment, you may adopt the anti- 
shaving system, and be wholly exempt from any right- 
eously preferred charges of being a " Whiskered Pan- 
dour," or of attempting to render yourself conspicuous 
in the eyes of men. But you may fear the protestations 
of the ladies. Yet it is certain that, when the well- 
educated lady comprehends the reasons why we rebel 
against harherism, they will most fully approbate an in- 
dependent course, and love the man the more when he 
practically unites taste and cleanliness with principle. 

But you may excuse yourself on the grounds of hav- 
ing shaved so long a time that it would be hard to bring 



TIIE PHILOSOPHY OF WEARING THE BEARD. 145 

your mind to neglect the habit. Now, this is by no 
means satisfactory. Go ! sin no more. We should 
always hold ourselves sufficiently independent of all 
conceivable habits (bad, or probably bad ones, I mean), 
to throw them aside the moment we see reasons for so 
doing. This, I trust, is my own position ; it is the only 
way in which a man can subdue evil, and overcome the 
world in himself. 

Many persons will object to wearing the mustache on 
the ground of inconvenience ; while the beard on the 
lower portions of the face is tolerated as being out of 
the way, and beneficial to the throat and bronchial or- 
ganization. Now here, Mr. Editor, many can interpose 
their own personal experience, who have not the least 
difficulty in eating, nor in discharging any one of the 
numerous functions for which the mouth and the labial- 
surfaces are particularly adapted and designed. The 
ladies may rest perfectly assured on this head. If there 
be an attraction between souls sufficiently powerful to 
bring the male and female lips in conjunction, there are 
no barriers in the shape of mustachios which can pre- 
vent the necessary proximity ; that is, if the testimony 
of the " oldest inhabitant," who has worn the full beard 
for twenty years, is worth anything as evidence in such a 
trial 

Other persons will object to the cultivation of the 

7 



146 THE HAKMOXIAL MAN. 

beard and the mustache, because they have deficient 
growths on the face, rendering the appearance quite mi- 
harmonious. But my way in such a case would be to 
adopt the principle practically, and let all the beard 
grow that would, using the scissors to keep it short and 
out of the mouth, and trimming it also in strict refer- 
ence with what appeared becoming to my style of coun- 
tenance. 

. One point more. The disagreeable appearance of the 
beard when it first begins to grow is sufficient to make 
a modest man desire to flee all human society. But it 
is astonishing how soon he will forget his unpopular 
seeming, and return to society an altered man. I would 
have every one, who desires to become a Harmonial 
Man, to abandon three things immediately — Tobacco, 
Hum, and Razors. If the beard grows out hard and 
stiff, from frequent shaving, then all you need do to sof- 
ten it is this : Put equal parts of Scotch ale and sweet 
oil together, and cut them into perfect amalgamation 
with a sufficient quantity of alcohol to make the compo- 
sition a thin fluid, and simmer it, with one ounce of 
fine-cut tobacco, for one hour. It may be perfumed, 
with anything preferred, without injury. When you 
brush your whiskers pour the fluid on the face of the 
brush employed, also rub this fluid on frequently with 
the palm of your hands. This will bring them out con- 



THE rillLOSOPIIY OF WEARING THE BEARD. 147 

siderably more silky and soft than would be the case 
after practising shaving for years. 

But enough. I simply go for the practical applica- 
tion of the principle that " whatever is, is right," in the 
great constitution of Nature. If a man is disposed to 
do rfcht in one tiling, he will be in another. The 
quicker we all abandon vices, and practise virtues, the 
more certain are we of obtaining that happiness and joy 
of mind which the world can neither give nor take 
away. 



WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY? 



Is there one open-minded reader who does not deplore 
the cowardice of men — deplore the absence of that 
commanding intelligence and humble independence of 
character which alone exalt man above the brute crea- 
tion ? The uncompromising advocates of nature's prin- 
ciples — where are they ? Shall we seek them in legisla- 
tive halls, or in the costly sanctuary? Well-meaning 
men may be found everywhere ; in the private paths, 
and on the highways of life ; but the well-doing men — 
where are they ? Where is the man — the son of God — 
who has cast off the chains of bigotry and superstition, 
who confides in his own instincts, thinks his own thoughts, 
and reveals the talents with which he is endowed? 

We need more independence of soul — not impudence 
or arrogance, but strength enough, courage enough, to 
do the bidding of our instincts, and rebuke the wrong 
which timidity generates ! Every sect in religion occa- 
sionally brings the advantages of education to bear upon 
some precocious youth. Some young man, though of 
plebeian origin, has the good fortune to wear a sadder 



WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY? 149 

expression than his mates, which is regarded by his re- 
ligious sponsors as an evidence of piety — a native pre- 
dilection toward "the man of sorrow" — and so it is con- 
cluded to send him to college to " study divinity ; " and 
then to the village pastor to study the art of physical 
and moral imitation ! I say imitation, because every 
student, instead of learning the divinity of his own soul, 
and exercising the angelic attribute of giving faithful 
expression to the good and true within him, learns, on 
the contrary, the art of whining out his prayers, of 
echoing the thoughts of his leaders, of imitating the 
carpenter's saw, and living, in short, every way in con- 
tradiction to his own genius. 

Divinity-colleges, for. these reasons, are not the friends 
of humanity. They do not encourage the free expres- 
sion of the good and the true within every heart. They 
lead the young man to become a perfect imitation — to 
follow the example of some religious chieftain — to em- 
ploy his " ten talents " as tools to work with, not as so 
many angel voices bidding the sonl " be spontaneous, be 
confiding, and free ! " So the divinity-colleges, instead 
of encouraging the young man to rise above the sectari- 
an crowd — to trust his own wings in flying from thought 
to thought over the customs and traditions of the world 
— they are institutions for manufacturing "echoes." 
Tney convert the students into so many hand-organs, 



150 THE HAKMONIAL MAN. 

constructed upon principles so extremely accurate and 
rigid as to insure, whenever the crank is turned, the 
same old groans and time-serving melodies. 

The mind thus educated strives to write as the schools 
have taught, as custom dictates, as the sect requires. It 
echoes the immortal sentiments of Dr. All-Right, Dr. 
Solomon — prays the prayers of the church ; and so it 
stammers, and makes no free expression. Nature made 
us individuals, as she did the flowers and pebbles ; but 
we are afraid to be peculiar, and so " our society resem- 
bles a. bag of marbles, or a string of mould candles." 

Nature teaches us a universal language. It is neither 
Greek nor Hebrew, neither is it the dialect of any par- 
ticular latitude or spot on the map ; but it speaks to the 
honest, true heart, wherever it chance to be beating. It 
tells the same truths in ten million ways. 

There is not a semi-tone in love, there is not a shade 
of color, a warbling bird, a whispering pine, a babbling 
stream, or star in the sky, which does not tell the soul, 
" Be spontaneous, be confiding and free ! " The rose 
perfumes the air with its own fragrance ; every tree 
brings forth its own fruit; every star shines in the 
midst of its own glory — so the stupidest intellect has a 
beauty peculiarly its own ! That beauty, though various 
in degree, is identical in kind with the highest. The 
difference between men is more external than actual — 






WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY? 151 

more in development than in essence. The commonest 
mind is full of thoughts — thoughts worthy of the rarest 
genius — which do not now into the harness of diction, 
grammar and orthography, bat break forth in fresh 
sounds and unexpected directions, as water when pres- 
sed from its old channels. 

Of all principles Requiring strength and independ- 
ence of character to maintain, there is none more 
conspicuous than the principle of integrity to one's own 
nature. Who is strong enough to be true to his in- 
stincts ? — independent enough to be the exponent of the 
spirit of God within him ? Who among you has the 
magnanimity to live just as the " still small voice" and 
the angels tell you to live? You desire the work of 
reform to £0 forward, but who amongst von has the 
courage — feels the sublimity of that philanthropic en- 
thusiasm — to die on the cross of some persecution, in 
order that the work may prosper ? Have we the inde- 
pendence of nature — that is, the true representation of 
our own condition* without duplicity — being natural at 
all times ? Do we yearn for love, let us be loving ; 
do we yearn for reformation, let us be reformed ; do 
we yearn to free mankind from discord and wrong, let 
us be free ! 

" What will people say ? " Yea, and so it is, we no 
sooner leave corruption than, through the force of habit, 



152 THE HAKMONIAL MAN. 

like Lot's wife, we turn back to it ! Than this, nothing 
more quickly petrifies the mind. A stone, once loos- 
ened from its mountain-bed, rolls down the acclivity 
faster and faster, till buried in the mud at the base. 
So he who would not forego some personal luxury, 
abolish some personal habit, for the sake of reform, but 
turns away into the deep currents of popular injustice, 
in order to escape the odium of being peculiar, and to 
enjoy mere selfish plans of pleasure, he goes deeper and 
deeper into the mine of ignorance and vice, and retards 
the work he would have go forward. When a reform 
movement becomes positive, then this time-serving, 
" well-wishing " man comes forth, and declares, " He 
always thought just so," and takes hold with the en- 
thusiasm of a " new convert," now that the work re- 
quires no more martyrs, and helps the cause which 
helps him ! This class is very numerous. But the un- 
compromising advocates of nature's principles — where 
are they ? Where are the minds who advocate the in- 
trinsic goodness and royalty of every man \ Where is 
the man, or class of men, who regards every individual 
as a sovereign in his own soul, a genius in his own way, 
a child of God, destined to enjoy the joys of the spirit-^ 
ual universe % The dying Quaker said, " There is a 
spirit I feel which delights to do no evil, to revenge no 
wrong, but delights to endure all things, in hopes to 



WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY ? 153 

enjoy its own unto the end. Its hope is to outlive all 
wrath and contention, and to weary out all exaltation 
and cruelty, or whatever is of a nature contradictory to 
itself! It fears no evil in itself, and so conceives of 
none in any other. If befriended, it is humbled with 
gratitude. I see the end of all temptation — 

1 For I do see a change, 
All rainbowed in the far-off future time, 
When men shall stamp their demon creeds to dust, 
And know the Evangel in its very heart, 
Regardless of the form.' " 

So true minds look upon men and things. The indi- 
vidual triumphs over wrong, and comes out purified at 
last, like gold, all the better for the trial. 

But who has the courage of soul to say he believes 
it ? — still more, the independence to live his nature out ? 
Some truth, perhaps some fragment of life, wells up 
from within, demanding utterance. " What will people 
say?" Perhaps you belong to the church, but your 
spirit o'erleaps the rigid formality thereof, and feels 
like dancing. " What will people say % " Perhaps you 
feel like bursting away from your sectarian bonds, and 
doing your own thinking. " What will people say % " 
Perhaps you have found out a new way to human hap- 
piness, through the paths of organic liberty and attract- 



154 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

ive industry, or by other paths. " What will people 

say?" 

' ' Be noble ! for the nobleness that lies 
In other men, sleeping-, but never dead, 
Will rise in majesty to meet thine own." 

Intrinsically and essentially, there is no difference 
between human beings ! All visible inequality and 
variety arise from different combinations of the same 
powers and attributes. In the great constitution of na- 
ture there are no masters, no slaves, no favorites of 
God, or beings beyond the circle of his love. And who 
are you — you, who live in parlors, consume the richest 
viands, decorate your bodies with fine linen, and go in 
your coaches to church on the Sabbath ? And who are 
they who live in dark kitchens, who sleep in narrow 
rooms, who prepare your clothing and food, while you 
are praying to the throne of God ? " O, we are rich ; 
we can afford these things ; we are favored ! And they 
are poor ; they must remain where the Creator placed 
them ; the poor shall never cease out of the land." Of 
all living things thou art alone made capable of blush- 
ing. The world shall yet read thy shame upon thy 
face ; thy brow shall bear the " mark " of every joy 
thou hast murdered ! 

I know this law by heart ! In my most elevated 
moments, I see how mathematically certain every act is 



WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY? 155 

followed by its legitimate consequences. There's no 
escape. For man is both individually and morally im- 
mortal ! Every volition of mind remains forever, 
engraved in readable characters upon something. In 
the various relations subsisting between man and Na- 
ture, I know of no compromise policies, no actual atone- 
ment, no possible way to escape the plain results of 
life. The garment of materiality, which now subsists 
between us and the spiritual, will one day drop oft". 
Then we shall read the book that we have written. 
For we are all authors. We write books. Every day 
opens a fresh leaf in some heart, on which we trace 
some line of thought — make some impression thereon 
which can never fade away. 

In the street there goes a hungry, lean-faced, hollow- 
eyed, sharp-looking man — more dead than living. How 
came he to exist ? Whence his origin 1 His aspect is 
villanons, his sphere repulsive, his eyes look downward 
and treacherous. How came he so constituted \ Think 
you that that man is personally responsible ? Did he 
make himself.? An angel's tongue can alone describe 
the ten thousand discords — parental, social and reli- 
gious — which entered into the conceptive essences that 
formed that human soul ! His eyes full of subtlety, his 
forehead retreating, his motions a perpetual insult to 
the laws of grace. Behold in all a graveyard. His 






156 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

eyes the gates through which we enter ; his forehead 
the tomb of parental ignorance, the dormitory of social 
wrongs, operating on his mother prior to his birth. He 
is a book — the compilation of the thoughts and habits 
of several authors ; the mother compiled it. But no- 
body heeds the repulsive wretch — no one acknowledges 
the chapters he wrote on him. The nation sees none of 
its wrongs and injustices incarnated, and walking in the 
noon-day sun ; nay, all pass by, glad to escape the con- 
taminating presence, wondering, like good believers in 
the old theology, what stupendous providence or object 
the Lord must have had in his creation ! And that 
poor, villanous, murderous wretch, that case-hardened, 
godless, unconverted conscience, is surely going to the 
realms of destruction. Art thou quite sure ? Take 
heed ; judge not ; only the sinless can throw stones. 

That man is immortal. He did not make the first 
resolutions which took effect upon his after life, which 
cut their channels deep into his conscience ; but some 
external discord made them for him — perhaps an un- 
kind word, a treacherous act, a bad example, a blight- 
ing habit, communicated to his mind by parents, asso- 
ciates, or the nation. Ignorance is a pregnant source. 
Her children, at first shadows and fanciful imaginings, 
finally grow to muscular thoughts. Thoughts find words, 
words become habits, walking when we walk, speaking 



WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY? 157 

when we speak ; they dine with us, praise onr stupidity, 
approbate deeds of cruelty, and tell us that " we are not 
our brother's keeper." They even flatter Christians, tell- 
ing them that certain creeds and forms of faith will 
save the soul, that sins can be obliterated by the con- 
centrated suffering of a single human being, that our 
implicit credulity is alone required to secure a heavenly 
state. Meanwhile, ignorance tells us to shun the evil 
man. Let him get his own bread and clothing as best 
he can ; only let us punish him if he steal from our 
larder ; let us murder him if he kill his brother ; yet, 
" let us pray" for his conversion — let us pray that God 
will take mercy on that deformed, villanous soul, and 
give it a seat, at last, among the "just made perfect" ! 

Let us learn a parable. "When the young tree was 
planted by the roadside, the careful planter put a 
strong frame around it, shielding it from the blast of 
the hurricane and common dangers. A few years 
rolled by, and the young tree stood strong and firm, 
straight as an arrow, its boughs spread out in diverse 
ways, loaded with foliage, fragrant and fair, sheltering 
both man and beast from storms and noon-day heat, 
the bower of singing birds, the " lute " of the evening 
zephyr. 

Another planter, less wise than the other, and there- 
fore less careful, planted another young tree, the 



158 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

brother of the first, at the same time, in the same 
neighborhood. He placed no protection about it, but 
left it to the strength of its own spine. The beasts of 
the fields pulled away its first buds ; the bounding boy 
cast his weight upon it ; the tempest twisted it in all 
directions, and so it leaned over, asked the ground for 
help, and receiving none, began to wither away. But 
the surrounding vegetation, seeing the poverty and de- 
bility of the young tree, fading when it should have 
been redolent with beauty, they sent in contributions of 
moisture and liquids, and forthwith it took fresh en- 
couragement, and tried to live like the neighboring 
tree. It tried to look cheerful, to stand up straight, to 
throw the mantle of beauty over its delicate buds, to 
breathe forth a soft loveliness, to attract the wayfaring 
man and the beast to repose beneath its shade. But 
no, no ; it could not do anything like this, for its ex- 
terior was coarse, irregular, deformed ! It wanted love ; 
but, alas ! it lived in a world of sensuality, and so 
could receive neither proper sympathy nor respect. 
Instead of love it received, abuse ; stones for bread ; 
the winds whistled no song among its boughs, but 
screeched at them, whining out the solemn dirge of 
death. Birds hastened by ; the storms of winter froze 
their icy fetters upon its tender arms ; its head was 
destitute of clothing ; the life-blood had flown, drop by 



WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY? 150 

drop, into surrounding forms, and so it drooped and 
died. 

When the tree dies from neglect, there remains no 
history of its wrongs, or joys, or sorrows. But man 
never dies. Every man shall meet every man, face to 
face, heart to heart, in the spirit land. All injustice is 
to be first examined, then understood, then acknowl- 
edged, then forgotten. A bad deed lives within us, or 
within others, till love is kindled upon the soul's altar, 
on the mount of wisdom, in whose flame all wrong is 
utterly consumed. 

Are we independent enough to believe folly in the 
laws of cause and effect % If so, are we enough natural 
to live consistently with this belief ? We depend upon 
no traditions. Chaldean fables and Persian tales live in 
the testaments as sacred revelations. They appeal to our 
credulity, not to our reason. Have we the independ- 
ence to think and say so ? " "What will people say % " 

The spirit of nature — the divine being — has revealed 
to us the character of his religion. There is perfect 
Freedom in it ! Nothing looks monotonous. There is 
no long-facedness and hypocritical sanctimoniousness 
about it ! In his universally published creed, the Crea- 
tor declares himself to be no gloomy Quaker or Ortho- 
dox. Instead of clothing creation uniformly in a drab, 
dress, giving it a dismal expression, foreboding evil, he . 



160 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

has bedecked the hills and dales with variegated loveli- 
ness, and placed a crystal on the breast of the granite 
mountain ! 

The Deity is the crystallization of all principles ! 
Justice and joy, peace and progress, beauty and endless 
loveliness, dart off from the common focus — and so the 
Deity declares the snperlative grandeur, the boundless 
universality, of his spirit and its religion ! He cannot, 
with such attributes, be eternallv conscious of the exist- 
ence of a blazing pandemonium, just beyond the bound- 
aries of his all-glorious dominion ! " "What will people 
say?" 

No matter what — let us be true to the gospel of na- 
ture ! " A house divided against itself cannot stand." 
Fables may contradict each other, but the poles of the 
universe must be in eternal accord. We may, there- 
fore, say that Deity cannot use the eternal destruction 
of the poor, unfortunately organized wretch, and yet 
send forth principles of love and beauty into this world, 
causing souls to love each other, birds to sing the songs 
of gladness, and the fields to team with blushing luxu- 
riance ! Nay ; a contradiction so stupendous — an ab- 
surdity so gorgeously constructed — is a philosophical 
impossibility ! The laws of love — the soul of God — in 
man stand up like the ascending Alps, in monumental 
resistance to horrors so unutterable. For if there were 



WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY? 101 

a hell in the neighborhood of heaven (as .our well-mean- 
ing clergy assert), containing but one — just one — lost 
soul, we know (granting the Lord to be unable to save) 
that the angels in heaven — our departed brethren — 
would weep tears enough to extinguish the fires of hell ; 
and that, upon the swelling bosom of an ocean thus 
formed, that once lost soul would rise triumphantly 
into the courts of heaven ! 

"We believe all this, do we not ? Assuredly. Then 
why not have the independence to assert it 1 

" O, we do not wish to be too severe upon the preju- 
dices of the people. They honestly think so, and we 
wish to treat them gently." In other words, " What will 
people say % " 

But observe ! Have the people any right to stifle 
the voice of truth within you % How many thousands 
of joys have the clergy murdered ? How many preju- 
dices do they severely shock? How many young, 
confiding hearts have been wounded by the teachings of 
popular theology ? How many souls has it bowed down 
in slavery % The young mind believes in no hell, in no 
devil, in no wicked men / It believes in no " mine and 
thine," — in no hypocrisy ; but, as its faculties unfold, 
it reads goodness and God upon everything. Intuition 
weaves a garland around the heart. Every leaf, every 
flower, is gifted with a spell ! Shades are omens, dreams 



162 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

are signs ! But alas ! " dog-days " must come. There 
is no escape, unless the parents be good enough to act 
according to nature. The young mind must be put in 
the pen, with those domestic animals known as cat-echism 
and dog-matism ! And the contact is contaminating to 
the last degree. 

The catechism sings dreadful songs, purring every 
superstition in* theology; shedding a coat of every 
color. 

The dogmatism howls dismally about the sheep and 
goats ; teaches the young mind to hate one class, and 
love another. Indeed, this dog barks every Sunday ; 
and gives the young memory the first lessons in swear- 
ing ! The village pastor talks about the devil and hell ; 
shows how and upon what rigid laws of retributive 
justice, God will damn the souls of certain persons; 
and so, the child and the thoughtless man learn to em- 
ploy the same terms and epithets, in the same emphatic, 
God-like manner as the minister of the gospel. " Ye 
serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the 
damnation of hell ? " From the New Testament alone 
you may find the entire vocabulary of the profane man, 
as well as illustrations of implacable wrath arid retalia- 
tion, in imitation of which undeveloped minds get angry 
and swear. And when any clergyman preaches against 
the use of profane language — a habit, like smoking and 



WHAT WILL TEOPLE SAY? 103 

chewing*, unfit for man — would it not be well for him 
to look somewhat into its origin ? Let him show the 
people— no matter what they say — how children learn to 
swear ; and where, from what source of vengeance and 
retaliation, the disgusting words are drawn ! 

A kind word, spoken at the right moment, may prove 
the salvation of thousands. Provide thyself with this 
piece of gold. True words, real commiseration, some- 
times do more than money to save the erring. Straws 
frequently change the whole current of life. 

A notorious pirate, who had unfurled the flag of uni- 
versal defiance, and crimsoned the sea with the blood 
of many victims, drew near in spirit while I was .writing 
this, and related to me the following affecting cause of 
his earthly career. As he approached me a generous 
smile played upon his face, his eye was soft aud mild in 
expression, and I felt him to be a missionary from the 
spirit-land to our earth. 

" I am qualified to teach," said he, " for I have been 
to school ; no other can ! The most unrighteous judge 
of mankind is the sinless man ; for he judges without 
wisdom, not having learned in the school of experi- 
ence." 

" What have you to communicate ? " I inquired. 

" In all compassion," he replied, " I come to say that 



101 THE HARMONIAL MAN. 

my progression has been much arrested by an applica- 
tion of Solomon's rule to me while in childhood." 

" How was thk ? " I asked. 

" O, how well I remember it ! " exclaimed he. " My 
nature was so full of love !. But I was a child, thought- 
less and free, bounding to and fro, filled to the brim 
with vitality, strong and vigorous in my disposition, yet 
docile under the words of affection, and yearned often 
for them ! But, withal, I was deformed in my features. 
The mirror gave me back a visage I could not love ; 
and my mother's, eye, instead of glowing with the radi- 
ance of inward heat, returned to me the same cold re- 
flection of myself. Then add to this fact, that she was 
a firm .disciple of the Scottish church, a believer in the 
depravity of infants, in using the rodiov slight offences. 
She never encouraged me to tell the truth, nor to be 
kind, but smote me whenever she imagined I did a 
wrong thing. My nature was strong in feeling, and 
never did the rod touch me without laying bare a 
wound in my spirit. These wounds were not allowed 
to heal; but (for fear of 'spoiling the child') they 
were oft made to bleed afresh. Had it not been ' my 
mother ' — the only being to whom I dared to look for 
love (my father having passed from earth) — I should 
not have felt the rod deeper than the flesh. But it was 
my mother ! And we were poor and friendless ; but 



WHAT WILL PEOrLE SAY? 1C5 

the preacher came to us sometimes, and never failed to 
admonish my mother not to spoil me 'with too much 
kindness.' And so she had the approbation of the min- 
ister for her treatment of me. But I could have with- 
stood all this, had not my little heart been crushed at a 
moment when I supposed I had triumphed over the 
horrid temptation to. tell an important falsehood. In 
my sport, wild and thoughtless, and dared by my com- 
panions, I fired a small shed, near the house, for the ex- 
citement it would create in burning. The alarm was 
soon given, and the fire extinguished without doing 
harm. But my heart smote me for the deed, and that 
night I ventured to tell my mother, frankly, that I did 
it. Instead of bestowing love upon me for telling her 
the unwelcome truth, for conquering the temptation to 
tell a falsehood, for struggling to overcome a propensity 
to screen my guilt — instead of love, she, good Christian 
mother as she was, rose, in all the indignation of an of- 
fended Solomon, against me. The flower of truth, 
which I had presented her, she stamped to the earth. 
She deprived me of my food that night, confined me in 
a dark room till morning ; then she smote me with her 
rod, and bade me do so no more. O, could she have 
seen my inward spirit, the wounds already there, the 
fires of vengeance kindled on the altar of every feeling, 
whose leaping flames warmed my every faculty to vigor, 



166 THE HAEMONIAL MAN. 

she would have kindly received me, as the father of 
Washington did his son. But I was disheartened, and 
angry with myself for having yielded to the weakness 
of telling the truth. A strange resolution came up 
within me to never trv a^ain. And the same dav on 
which my mother thus wounded my spirit anew, I left 
my home and her, with feelings and resolutions that 
made me a wolf turned loose upon my Brother man ! 
Had I been of different mould, I might, perhaps, have 
remained at home — a crushed, dejected, cheerless 
house-plant, as many who have experienced similar 
treatment. 

" Do you regret this now \ " I asked. 

" ]S r ot now," he replied ; " but I have regretted it. 
For long years my mother remained on earth, after I 
had left it, mourning the loss of her son, and I could 
not comfort her. This was the source of my regret. 
The inj ury that was done to me, and which I, therefore, 
did to others, is all balanced and obliterated by the good 
which I can now do ! " 

" What good can you do ? " I asked. 

" What good % " he exclaimed. " I can save hundreds 
from the treatment (and its consequences) which I ex- 
perienced, by relating to you this narrative." 

Kind reader and all men, ye are immortal ! All are 



WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY ? 1G7 

authors and publishers ! The books you write cannot 
be cast away, become obsolete and neglected ; but they 
are placed in the temple where angels go to school. If 
you write falsehoods upon any page in human life, if 
you do evil to the least degree, there is only one way to 
obliterate it — " Overcome evil with good." This is al- 
ways practicable ; because evil is the perverted form 
of good. Let truth and falsehood grapple ; let good 
and evil have their battle, for God reigns; and so 
truth and good will ever come uppermost. But — 

" "What will people say % " Be patient, friends of 
progression and development; for, surely as I now 
write, the people will join in the chorus of our new 
song, and say, u O, we always thought so ! " 



